Optimism
by MagnificentSoul
Summary: On what was supposed to be a normal day at summer camp, 8 unsuspecting children found themselves whisked away to a land of untold adventure and fun as they aimed to save the world...though one was a tad unwilling to call it that. Features OC, don't like, don't read. Read&Review please
1. Chapter 1

Hey there people, I decided since I have SO much time on my hands – I decided *drumroll* TO MAKE A DIGIMON FAN-FIC~! *Gets rocks and fruit thrown at her*

C-calm down please! As the author of this blighted piece of horrid fan fiction, I (attempt to) promise that –

1-That my OC shall not, nor ever be a Mary-sue/rehash of the existing characters

2- That my OC shall not hog the glory/attention of all the characters (unless it's her lime-light time/episode), be invulnerable to tricks, plot-devices, and betrayals/hypnotism, nor be able to see past the story plot. She shall also not being able to read the characters minds or have her Digimon be some super-special-awesome type that's all knowing and can delete everything in it's path, nor have two Digimon partners

And 3-That this story will (attempt) to follow the anime as closely as possible, with some of my own unique changes (Cause I haven't watched the show in years, so my memory's kind of iffy). Plus, since I've only watched the English dub, it won't follow anything in the Japanese version except some stuff I found on the Digimon Wiki(Sorry.)

Also, since I couldn't find any useable Digimon from the wiki (Because I didn't want to use one that already had partner in the anime series already or was just a recolor of one used in the first season), I decided to make up my own.

Now then – LET'S GO DIGIMON! *Shot in the face*

* * *

Hibiki Migawa officially hated her big sister

Not that it was completely Kino fault that Hibiki was going to summer camp alone, surrounded by bugs and people she barely knew, or would be willing to interact with her.

Stupid Kino getting her leg broken 3 days before they had to leave; she jus HAD to go running out into the street to play soccer with the big kids, try and show off, and end hurting herself when she got shoved into the street lamp - she's lucky she only broke a leg; she could have gotten her skull cracked open for pete's sake! Then who would Hibiki complain to when the kids in the class teased her or left her out of their in their little clique games, or about to herself even.

"This sucks…" She mumbled as she crossed her arms and sunk further into her car seat, her long, knobby legs brushing up against the dashboard.

Her mother, who had just finished chatting with her boss on her cell (An action which Hibiki's warnings of legality fell deaf on), gave her daughter an amused look as she raised an eyebrow.

"We're not even there yet and you're already complaining?" the red-head woman teased, earning a small "Humph" from the girl in return as she sunk farther into the seat's leather lining, "You really need to lighten up, it only summer camp – not prison."

"Might as well be, " she said, playing with a piece of her tangled hair as she stared out the car window, "I barely know anyone there, there're bugs everywhere, poison ivy, water," _and_ _I'm probably going to end up spending the entire time alone in my cabin!_ "Why can't I stay home with you and Kino?"

"Because the camp doesn't give refunds," The woman deadpanned as they rounded a corner "And Kino wanted you to go and have fun; you know she would have hated herself if she knew you stayed behind for her sake."

_Of course she would,_ she thought _Cause she's so noble and caring and pretty and smart and doesn't freak out boys when she stands up and they realize she really __**is**__ a girl and-_

"Besides," Her mother added, cutting her mental put-downs short "You're not going to be completely alone – That girl Minori from your class is going to be at the same camp right?"

"Yeah" The young girl mumbled,

"See, that's one friend right there!"

Hibiki groaned as she resisted the urge to say 'We're not friends'; they did one little class assignment together, and somehow it got into everyone's heads that they were BFFs. They **barely** said two words to each other since the start of the school year; but suddenly, after one little stupid project, everyone decided that they had to spend every waking minute together, Minori included. Everyday, it was lunch dates and shopping spree invitations and poor Hibiki having to hide in the library to escape.

And had her sister not been so nosy and do-goody, she would have declined every single offer the persistent girl made and simple avoided her till she moved away. Or graduated. Or both – she was willing to be patient.

Didn't really help that her mom acted pretty pushy about it either

Plus, being friends would require both of them to be willing mutual participates in the relationships. Hibiki was unwilling, so this was more of a, oh what's the word…"Stalker/Hostage" relationship.

Guess who the hostage was

Then at long last, after what seemed like forever, they finally made it to Hibiki's Hel-err, the summer camp. As the two of the stepped out of the car, Hibiki's mother headed to the back to get her luggage out of the trunk while the girl pulled up her backpack and smoothed out her shot-alls as she looked around; Nearly thousands of kids were piling out of vans and buses and heading straight for a nearby man on a box shouting through a megaphone for them to come by, while some where still at the entrance, waving their parents goodbye or crying for them not to leave them here.

It was times like this that made her wish for a natural disaster. Nothing big – A tornado maybe, or even a small earthquake; Just so long as it got her out of here

Her mother came up next to her and gave her the luggage before she began fussing over the girl's hair, suddenly pulling out two white scrunchies from her suit pocket.

Hibiki never really saw a point as to why her mother did this; Her hair was a messy, tangled, untamed jungle of coal-black that not even rats would nest in (you wouldn't believe the morning battles she has to go through just to make _un_-presentable) that nothing could keep pressed down. Even straightners didn't work. They had tried using hair clips a few years back; which ended with Hibiki sitting in a check-up room, bawling her poor, droopy little eyes out as the doctor (The barber was a useless idiot who didn't know shampoo from relaxer) was forced to cut out chunks of her inhospitable curls because they couldn't pull them out. Her sister was so lucky she was born with their mother's hair – a gorgeous, soft, amber-tinted sanctuary to any animal who wanted to sleep on her head. Of course, Kino let hers grow out while their mother cut hers' short for work; gotta look good for the camera where you're busy telling almost all of Tokyo if tomorrow's a good day for a beach trip.

As her mother began yanking some of Hibiki's hair through the first scrunchy, she started up what would, unbeknownst to both of them, be the final normal conversation she would ever have with her daughter

"Remember to write back home at the end of each week."

"Yes Mom."

"And wear bug-spray if you guys go hiking"

"Sure Mom"

"And you can talk to the councilor if your having problems or need to call home."  
"Okay Mom."

"And don't forget to wear your sunscreen."

"Yeah Mom."

"And tell them that you can't swim in case they have you go swimming or canoeing or whatever water-base stuff they might have you guys doing; remember, there's no shame in having to skip out."

"Right Mom"

"And try and make some friends – I don't want to hear about you cooping yourself up in your cabin reading books all day!"

Hibiki was silent for a moment "…Fine mom."

Her mother looked ready to continue when the girl held up her hand, a tiny but forced smile on her face "Mom, I'll be fine, and I'll try and be friendly. Like you said; it's only summer camp – not prison"

The red-haired woman blinked a few times, then laughed "Right, right – of course." She giggled, then pulled the last of Hibiki's hair into the other scrunchy and stood, patting away dust on her suit pant's legs "There, finished!"

Hibiki went to the car and stared at her reflection in the rear-view mirror - her curled, messy hair was now tied into two low pigtails with white scrunchies. She pulled at one of the strands; the way the hairs were arranged made her think of wilds snakes attempting to snap at her face and anything nearby – but it was bit nice looking. Hibiki gave a tiny, secret smile

"This really isn't much of a difference you know; I still look like freaky weirdo." She murmured, jolting when her mother gave her a sudden hard slap on the back.

"Nonsense – you're cute as a button!" the woman teased as she gave her daughter a cheeky grin and patted her head, then looked towards the entrance – the children had entered where following the man with the megaphone "Better hurry and catch up."

Hibiki nodded "Right," then gave her mother a quick hug and a kiss and ran off to catch up with the other kids "Bye mom, love you."

Her mother smiled and waved "Bye sweetie, try and have fun!" and headed back for the car.

* * *

Hibiki managed to catch up with the group. They had stopped front of the cabins and began reading off everyone's names. The one's whose names were called immediately shouted "here" while a few other started tiny little conversations with themselves. When her name was called, she gave a small, but firm "Here", and the councilor continued on by reading off the next name. She let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. She took a quick look around – everyone was still chatting with friends or giddily waiting for their names to be called; maybe things weren't going to be that bad.

…Is was she thought until she heard an eerily familiar giddy voice.

"Hibiki?"

The tall brunette instantly froze in fear and slowly turned around, frightened grey meeting tenacious Purple

"U-uh, Hey there Minori"

Minori immediately ran over, pulling the poor, gangly girl into a nice, tight hug, assaulting the brunette's vision with orange hair as she felt almost all the air in her lungs get pushed out "Yay, It's so good to see you! I didn't think you we're gonna show! How've you been? I heard Kino broke her leg playing soccer, is she OK? I was so worried you weren't gonna show and I'd get stuck with the nerds! Do you think we're going to be in the same cabin? Squee, it's so fab you're here!"

Hibiki's eyes began darting around wildly as she awkwardly hugged back "G-good to see you too Minori…"_ It's not that bad; it's just Minori talking to you. Yes, she managed to find you with her evil, stalker powers, but things are still good – it can't get any worse._

Then they were assigned into their cabin groups

"Cabin 7 - Taichi Kamiya, Sora Takenouchi, Yamato Ishida, Koushiro Izumi, Mimi Tachikawa, Takeru Takaishi, Joe Kido, Minori Fujihara and Hibiki Migawa!"

Hooray.

The second her name left his lips, Hibiki heard a loud, horrifyingly squeal of joy and was immediately tackled to the ground. Her vision was assaulted with pinks and reds and orange while her spine was being slowly crushed by the suffocation hug.

"Did you here that Hibiki, we're gonna be cabin buddies! I can't believe it; this is going to be so much fun! SQUEEE~"

Hibiki felt her eyes twitched as she heard the giggling of the other children and attempted to discretely pry the unwanted pink-clad girl away from her and regain control of her breathing, her cloud grey orbs twitching irritably as she forced a smile

"Yeah, great…"

* * *

Sorry it's so short, but I wanted to start out slow and just give a brief Intro to Hibiki before the ball really got rolling

Review please! Remember, every review made (good or bad) helps feed my low self-esteem


	2. Chapter 2

[7 days ago]

Kanade Migawa fluffed her short bob a few times before the camera man signaled her that they were about to switch on to her. Clearing her throat, she waited patiently for Sanae and Akito to finish their report

"We still aren't sure how many survivors there are from the flood in Iran yesterday nor the fate of our correspondents covering the protest going on when it occurred, but as of now, us and the victims' families are still awaiting response from the rescuers." Sanae finished somberly, then let AKito take over

"And now let's check with Kanade on today's weather, Kanade?"

Right on queue, Kanade gave her brightest smile as she moved across the room and pointed out the weather map shown on the green screen.

"Thanks Sanae and Akito! As you know, we've been experiencing some strange weather patterns as of late, particularly the sudden cold front that's hit Tokyo last week and the heat wave in Santo that's been causing the current drought in the farmlands. However it looks like it might lighten up a bit, so don't think about throwing out those bathing suits out yet ladies," she laughed, then moved next to the screen as it changed to the week's weather report, "Now for today's weather report! Seems like we're in for another cold, but sunny day, though things maybe warming up soon. Temperatures will start out in the low 40s before rising somewhere around 70 and 80 throughout the rest of the day, and similar conditions throughout the week…"

* * *

[Now for a surprise! I'm using Tai's Intro for this one because, well…I like the intro he does of the others, it's too much fun.]

[August 1, 1999]

Space – the final frontier. As the earth comes into view, a young man begins to speak as we close in

_That's home. Planet Earth. But I'm not sure that's where I am right now. Let me back up a little – It all began when the climate went out of control; the rain forest dried out, and other places got totally flooded with oceans like chocolate sauce. And get this, cities that are usually blazing hot during the summer got super cold._

_And where was I for all this? Well, I was at summer camp._

Then a campsite filled with happy children appears, and our focus is soon shifted to a young, brunette boy dressed in blue with goggles on his head sleeping in a tree as the sun shines over head

_All of the other campers were, you know, goofing off and hanging out. As for Me, I was enjoying the summer sun and, uh, going over my multiplication tables. That is until it started to snow, in the middle of July! Totally freaky. _

Suddenly, despite the sun still blaring, drops of snow soon begin to fall from the sky

_And it gets weirder; you won't believe what happened to me and 8 other kids_

A big, cold flake hits the sleeping boy's face, alerting him from his slumber as he stares at the sudden weather change-

_Oh, by the way, my name's Tai. _

We see a girl with orange hair, wearing a blue hat and yellow shirt looks upward as the snow catches her attention-

_This is Sora, she's okay... for a girl._

A blonde boy dressed in green is standing around boredly when the sudden snow surprises him-

_And Matt—Matt's too cool, just look at that haircut. _

A red-headed boy dressed in orange was typing away on a yellow laptop when a flake drops down in front of him-

_And this little kid is Izzy, He should have gone to computer camp. _

A brunette girl dressed in red wearing a pink cowboy hat looks up with glee at the snowfall-

_That's Mimi __—_ I'll bet you can guess her favorite color on the first try!

A little blonde boy dressed in teal was playing in the grass when the sudden wintry spectacle stops him-

_T.K. is Matt's dopey little brother. _

A young, black haired girl in a striped shirt and short-alls was writing in a notebook when a few bits of powder fell on the page and made her look up-

_Over there's Hibiki, Don't let that face fool you – she can be pretty snarky when she wants to be._

A tall, blue haired boy was walking up some stone steps when he too notices the flakes of powder falling down-

_Oh, and this is Joe, but don't ever scare him; he'd probably wet his pants!_

_So anyways, there we all were at camp when a huge blizzard came out of nowhere!_

Suddenly, the drizzle of snow grew into a flurry, forcing the councilors and campers to take shelter in their cabins and tents as it turned into a full on blizzard that ranged for a good hour or so.

_Needless to say – Canoe races were cancelled…_

Once the blizzard stopped, Tai poked his head out of the cabin and stared amazed out at the newly formed wonderland the snow had created as a grin formed on his face

"So let's have toboggan races instead!" he cheered, and raced out of the cabin, each of the others following suit as they looked outside.

"I'm going to build the biggest snowman!" T.K. shouted, nearly jumping down the steps as her ran through the snow

His older brother Matt chased after him with concern, "Hey T.K. be careful! Slow down!"

Sora left next, rubbing her arms as the chill hit her, "Brr, it's freezing _—_ and I didn't bring a jacket."

"Man, I was worried I'd catch a summer cold _—_ but this is even worse," Joe whined as he too stepped out, giving a worried glance as he saw the entire campsite draped in white

And then soon Mimi was outside, looking around in joyful glee as she saw the beautiful landscape the snowfall created, "Wow! Why didn't I pack my fluffy pink snow boots?"

Hibiki was the last out, giving a sigh of exasperation as she tentatively stepped outside, "You've got to be kidding me! So much for mom's "All day Sunshine" guarantee…"

The only ones who remained inside where Minori and Izzy; the former searching for her camera to document the event of the sudden snowstorm while the latter was attempting to get a network connection running through his laptop

"It's still not working," he muttered, staring at the frozen screen, " I think the snow's messing up my reception."

Minori didn't respond as she was humming blissfully as she drug through her bag, throwing articles of clothing and trinkets about until she pulled out her prize – a shiny, black camera

"Found it!" she said, and rushed out to join the others "Alright, everybody hold still, I wanna take a group photo!"

However, as they ventured farther outside, the sky suddenly lit up, and a beautiful aurora lined the horizon as the children stared up mystified at the sudden spectral Phenomenon

"Hey, what's your name, Izzy," Tai called, never taking his eyes off the unexpected light show, "You gotta come out here and see this!"

Izzy came out as quickly as Tai had called and followed the others gazes into the sky, face mimicking their looks of shock

"It's beautiful, magical even." Mimi mused, and everyone simply nodded in agreement

"Yeah," Izzy started, startled and confused, "But what is it?"

"Maybe an Aurora?" Sora guessed

"You mean like Aurora Borealis - the Northern lights? That's impossible: You can only see that in Alaska, and we're too far south."

"Tell that to the snow." Hibiki mumbled, shielding her eyes as she gazed at the colorful lights above with the others

Joe couldn't help but let out a anxious whimper, "Maybe we should go back inside, you know, before we all catch pneumonia."

"And miss this," Matt said, eyes glued to the heavenly marvel _"_The sky's, like, short circuiting_._"

"He's right's – this is totally rad! There's no way I'm missing this!" Minori gushed as she snapped a quick photo – or at least tried to; "That's strange, my camera's not working…"

"Do you think we'll need sunscreen?" Mimi asked

"I think "Snowscreen" would be more appropriate." Hibiki mumbled, rubbing her arms as she felt her legs freeze "or a parka and sweatpants."

Just then, what sounded like storm clouds rumbled through the air as a green hole formed in the sky.

"What is that?" Tai asked, immediately getting his answer as it shot out 8 lights, each covering the children head to toe in dust and snow as they crashed down to the earth in front of them.

"Is everyone okay?" Sora called as she brushed off the frozen powder and stood, receiving a shaky reply from the others as they did the same.

"We're still here"

"Not really, but could be worse."

"That was scary

"Were those meteors?" Izzy asked as he knelt down to inspect the spot of impact, jumping back with the rest as from the eight holes, light shot out - And within those lights were little devices wrapped in a blue aura that floated up in front of the 9 bewildered youths.

"Okay, not meteors."

Tai stared at the device with astonishment as he carefully plucked it from the air, the others following his example as the examined the objects

"What are these?" Sora asked to no one, earning a wordy explanation from Izzy in return:

"My guess is some sort of remote digital apparatus."

"…So in short, you don't know?" Hibiki deadpanned, tapping the small object's screen a few times

Minori's eyes sparkled as she stared over Hibiki's shoulder at the device in her hand, "This is too cool! Wish I had gotten one! You're so lucky Hibiki! Hold on, I'm gonna fix my camera and take a whole load of pictures of this!"

"Oh, could you take mine too!" Mimi asked, putting herself into a cute pose as Minori nodded "Just make sure you get my good side, okay."

"Does anyone know if these come with instructions?" Matt asked

Sadly, no one got a chance to answer as, to add to the day's weirdness, a giant green tidal wave came into view out of nowhere as it towered over them.

"No time for that – Surfs up!"

Hibiki's eyes widened as she stared at the approaching wave in horror, "Wait, I don't know how to swim!"

And before you could say "Cowabunga!", the wave opened up and swallowed her, Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, and T.K. whole.

The last thing anyone remembered hearing where their screams and Mimi shouting something about cheerleading camp.

* * *

Minori stood there in the snow, wide-eyed and frightened as she dropped her camera, screen finally flashing on as the Aurora and the wave disappeared from her sight, taking a picture of the ground instead.

"Hibiki…?"

* * *

_Hibiki…Hibiki…_

Hibiki moaned as she slowly regained consciousness, body throbbing as her vision returned and tried to sit up.

_Ugh...what hit me?_

"Are you okay Hibiki?"

The pale girl rubbed her head as she replied, "Yeah, I think so."

"That's good, you weren't moving and I thought you were dead!"

"Me too," she mumbled, and looked around to realize she was in the middle of some freaky looking jungle, giving a nervous chuckle as strange sounds emitted all around her, "Well, this is definitely not camp."

"Don't you worry about a thing Hibiki, I'm gonna take good care of you and protect you and help you and-"

She quickly cut the voice off and waved a dismissive hand "That's nice and all, But I don't really need you to…"

In midst of her sentence, Hibiki realized something – she was alone, lost, and had no idea where she was. She was separated from the other camper's who had gotten sucked up and possibly miles away from any semblance of civilization or humanity.

So…who was she talking to?

Frightened, Hibiki wildly looked around to locate where the voice was coming from, but saw nothing but trees

"I'm down here!"

And, with eyes twitching spastically, Hibiki turned her head and looked down – and there, sitting in front of her, was a little black and grey creature that looked like someone had tried to mutate a teddy bear head and mate it with one of those Manatee plushies her sister's friend bought her last year. The thing's wide, piercing eyes stared the poor girl down, fangs glistening as it suddenly jumped straight into the air and into her lap, snuggling against her stomach as it purred

"Hi Hibiki~!"

Hibiki blinked a few times, dumbstruck, and then…started screaming. Flinging it off her lap, she quickly stood and ran straight into the thicket of trees, screeching at the top of her lungs as the monster bounced after her

"Hibiki, wait for me!"

Hibiki ran and ran, getting slapped by tree branches and nearly tripping over roots as the creature kept in hot pursuit of her. And as they went deeper, her legs started burning, her chest started aching, her eyes began watering, and her brain began scrambling as she tried to escape. Finally, she felt she couldn't run anymore, and the thing was getting closer, so she defaulted to plan 2 – hide. Finding the biggest tree she could, Hibiki quickly got behind it and waited for whatever that mutant-plushy from heck was to leave. But it refused to do it even that, so Hibiki exhaustedly moved around the tree as it tried to circle around towards her. Eventually it gave up, and stared at the frightened brunette with sad, purple eyes as they began to moisten.

"Hibiki, why are you running away from me?" it asked, looking quite hurt as the girl remained shaking in her hiding spot

"Sorry, but where I come from, when you get sucked up onto tidal waves and weird monster-mutant…things start talking to you, running for the hills is priority step one!" She wheezed; cringing as it tried to get closer. The two remained in a stand-off, Hibiki standing behind her tree while the creature stood in front of it looking ready to cry. After another minute had past, she eventually gave up,

_Well, it doesn't look __**too**__ harmless _she thought, but remained on guard as she slowly left the safety of the tree

"Just what the heck are you anyway?"

"I'm your partner, silly!" it cried indignantly, continuing to bounce towards her, to which she responded with another flinch backwards "I'm Purumon, and so long as I'm around, you don't need to run."

Despite her well-warranted fear, Hibiki couldn't help but let her eyes twitch as she remained rooted where she stood, "Yeah right, and Typhoid Mary just had a really bad cold."

"It's true!" it chirped, and before Hibiki could react, it leapt forward, forcing her to catch it in her arms "As your partner and new bestest friend, I gonna make it my job to make you safe! So don't worry, cause nothing in the Digiworld's gonna hurt you while I'm around~!"

Hibiki blinked a few times before she, in spite herself again, let out a snort of amusement, _The little gal's almost as bad as Minori_ "Well, lucky me then." She then patted the creature on the head, realizing that she (the voice was pretty feminine) was really soft, "Well then Purumon, I accept your offer of protection."

Suddenly, voices rose from a cluster of plants up ahead, and Purumon narrowed her eyes as she hopped out of Hibiki's arms and after the sound, making a loud, battle cry

"CCCHAAAAARRRGGEE!"

Hibiki gave a defeated groan and gave chase "Hey hold it, you can't be protecting me if you run off like that!"

Pushing through leaves and branches, Hibiki finally caught up to Purumon and found out – with some relief – that she wasn't as alone as she thought.

"Hey, it's Hibiki!" Tai said as he dodged Purumon, and the girl simply gave a small wave to him and the others as she picked the small creature up.

"Calm down, they're friends. " she said, then turned to the other children before mumbling "Sorry about that, seems I got I real spitfire here,"

She then gave the small creature an very annoyed look, "Go on, say you're sorry."

Purumon seemed to pout for a bit

"Come on."

Eventually, she gave up and quietly murmured "I, Purumon, am very sorry for attacking you. Please accept my humblest apologies."

Giving another sigh and looking around, Hibiki set her new "pet" down and suddenly realized that each of the others had a strange creature with them too – there was a round, pink one with long antennae, a second pink one with a blue flower growing out of it's head, a small, white rabbit-like one, an orange horned one, and (you guessed it) another pink one that made Hibiki suddenly think of Pacman, "So, you guys going to introduce me to your new friends or not."

All of a sudden, a panicked cry perpetrated the area

"HEEELLLPPP MEEEE!"

the kids turned as, out of the blue, Joe came bursting through a bush, screaming like a mad man as he was chased by…another strange creature, which looked like a brown, baby seal with a tuff of orange hair on it's head

_I'm starting to notice a pattern here... _Hibiki mused mockingly as Joe came to a stop and started blubbering about the creature as it clung to his shoulder and introduced itself as "Bukamon". Seeing the others remain stone faced, he asked why no one was paying it any attention when he noticed the other creatures too

"T-there everywhere," He cried, staring at them with a mixure of fear and shock, "What are they!"

"We're…" the brown one said, floating down with the others as they cheered in unison

"DIGIMON – DIGITAL MONSTERS!"

The group stared at them for a while, unblinking, until Tai asked, "Digital monsters?"

"Yes, Digimon!"

Meanwhile, Hibiki walked over to Sora and carefully tapped her on the shoulder, "Um, could you tell me who those first five are? I'm kind of behind on Introductions."

"We're not just digital monsters though; we're much more than that!" the pink antennae one (who Hibiki now knew as Koromon) shouted as he bounced around for the group, "We're - kinda cute!"

"And, very loyal." The orange one called Tsunomon said with a blush

"With beautiful hair." the second pink one named Yokomon smiled as the flower on her head bobbed

"Or maybe no hair at all!" the third Pink one known as Motimon (Hibiki was starting to notice another pattern here), stated Matter-of-factly in a loud tone

"We can be funny, Ha!" Bukamon laughed

"And. Adorable." The white one named Tokomon chirped while his ears twitched

"But tough too!" Purumon declared, an look of pure bravado on her face

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Tai said, "I'm Tai, and these are my friends from summer camp."

He then pointed to each of the other children as he introduced them to their new "Friends" –

"I'd like you to meet Sora."

Sora shyly waved at them, "Nice place you got here, except for the bugs."

"And the self-proclaimed cool one over there's Matt."

Matt smirked, "No Autographs please."

"This is Joe."

"I'd shake hands," Joe stared, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "If you had any."

"That's Hibiki - Don't mind the attitude too much."

Hibiki crossed her arms nonchalantly and smiled, "Hello there - as the only apparent sane member of this group, I kindly thank you for not trying to eat us."

"Izzy here's our computer expert."

"Hi there, does this place have internet access?" Izzy asked with a small wave of his hand

"And last but no least, this little guy here is…uh-"

"T.K." the little boy greeted with a huge grin, "Call me T.K., and I'm not as little as I look."

"Okay, is that everyone?" Tai asked before Sora interrupted:

"Wait, what happened to that girl with the funny pink hat, and Hibiki's friend?"

Before Hibiki could counter with "She's not my friend", Tai answered -

"Now now, their names are Mimi and Minori."

Izzy frowned as a contemplative look formed on his face. "I don't remember seeing Minori get sucked in with us when the wave came; so she's might still back at the camp. As for Mimi, perhaps she's off picking flowers or going on a nature hike."

Then suddenly, a monstrous roar flew through the air as a piercing scream reached them

"AHHHH! Help Me!"

"Okay, so she's not picking flowers."

"You know - for a genius, you _**really**_ suck at guessing." Hibiki grumbled as the children called for Mimi and ran to the source, reaching a small clearing.

"Mimi, where are you?" Tai yelled, and right on queue, Mimi came running with a small green creature with leaves on its head following close behind

Hibiki couldn't help but blink exhaustedly _Another one, just how many of these "Digimon" are gonna show up?_

"Mimi, it's okay We're-" Tai started, only to be cut off by another roar as the biggest red-beetle Hibiki ever saw rose from the trees behind Mimi and charged at them, mandibles ready to cut them through

"What the heck is that thing?!" Hibiki screeched

"It's that giant bug Kuwagamon again!" Tai screamed, and everyone swiftly crouched down as the beast soared over them.

Meanwhile, Mimi was on the ground clutching her head, wishing the monster was gone and hoping that when she opened her eyes, she'd be back at camp sleeping in her cabin

"Mimi, are you okay?" the creature next to her asked as it looked up at her with concern

"I-I think so…" She whimpered

"Don't worry, Tanemon's here to protect you!" it assured as Sora came over to make sure they were alright

"Hey Mimi, its okay now." She said, and helped her up while the beetle-monster circled around for another assault.

"Here he comes again!" Tai shouted, and he and the others with their digimon quickly turned tail and ran as it flew after them.

"RUN!"

However, no matter how far or fast the children ran, they couldn't shake the giant brute, who furiously stayed its course while cutting through every tree in its path. When it charged at them again, they all hastily dove for the ground, waiting for it to fly back up.

"Will this day never end?" Joe cried as a fallen branch nearly crushed him "My mom's gonna want a total refund!"

"Here he comes again!" Yokomon yelped, and surely enough, the flying terror was getting ready to take another swipe at them.

Suddenly, Tai stood and turned to face it, a look of determination forming on his face, "That's it, no more running away."

"Have you lost your mind? We don't stand a chance against that thing!" Hibiki shrieked as she and the others got up. _And silly me, I forgot my industrial-sized bug spray._

"Besides, what else can we do?" Sora said

"They're right Tai," Matt yelled, tightening the grip on his little brother's hand "There's no way we can fight that thing!"

"Not and win anyway!" Izzy added

Soon, the giant beetle slowly began it's descent towards them, and the group found themselves running again, shifting through bushes and trees until they reached the end of the jungle, which happened to be a precarious cliff hanging thousands of feet over a dangerous looking ocean.

"Great, anybody bring a helicopter with them?" Matt asked bitterly as the monster's cries drew closer

"Maybe we can climb down?" Tai suggested and ran over to the edge to see if it was possible.

"Careful Tai" Sora said as the boy looked down, while the others waited expectantly

_First the Tidal wave, then the giant bug, and now this! I'd say "wild fire" next, but that's just asking for trouble!_ Hibiki mentally griped as Tai looked back towards them with a look of dread that pretty much read "Dead-end."

"Any **more** bright ideas?"

Tai quickly changed his face back to determined as he turned to the others, "There's no way down, we're gonna have to find another way!"

"Another way where?" Sora cried, but before Tai could respond, the giant insect horror came back, and was heading straight for him

"Tai, watch out!"

Just then, Koromon suddenly jumped in between the boy and his attacker and he spat small pink bubbles at it, causing the colossal digimon to veer it's course and hit Tai's tiny pink protector instead. However, this did not deter the monstrosity as it came hurtling toward the other children

"Not again!" Tai groaned. But then, just like Koromon, the other digimon jumped before their respected partners and faced the beast head on

"Digimon, attack!" Yokomon ordered, and all of them used the same attack Koromon had used earlier to force Kuwagumon to plummet into the forest behind them instead while the childen had (for what felt like the millionth time) duck down to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Once it felt safe, the stood and realized that the digimon had been knocked away while it was falling.

"Yokomon! Yokomon!" Sora cried as she and the others rushed to their digimon, while meanwhile, Tai was carefully picking up Koromon from the ground.

"Koromon, are you nuts? Why'd you do that?" He stammered, the pink creature squinting its eyes as it weakly replied

"Sorry…it's just that…I wanted to make…a good impression."

Tai couldn't help but let out a stress-filled chuckle "Crazy guy."

"Yokomon." Sora whimpered, holding the small digimon close.

"Tanemon, speak to me!" Mimi sobbed as she cradled Tanemon's unconscious form

"Come on Purumon, now's not the time for a nap!" Hibiki murmered, trying to keep the fear in her voice contained as she careful tried to shake the cataleptic mini-beast awake

Izzy's eyes were dilated into little dots as he held up Motimon, stuttering fearful, "T-they must be programmed for courage."

"Tokomon, what's wrong?" T.K. asked, tears forming when he didn't get a response

"Hey Tsunomon, wake up." Matt pleaded as he picked him up from the ground

Joe, despite his initial (and still present) fear of the little brown thing, let his blood run cold as he picked up Bukamon's motionless body, "Bukamon…wake up, please?"

Sadly, their mourning was cut short as a roar erupted from where the beast fell and, surely enough, arose from the trees, clashing it's mandibles together as it set it's sights on the young heroes again and forced them to flee to the edge of the cliff.

_Does **ANYTHING** slow him down!_ Hibiki thought as any chance of survival jumped off the cliff they were standing on

Sora groaned as the group ran out of land to run on, "I'd thought we'd seen the last of him."

"Me too, guess he had other plans." Tai stated with a sigh of defeat, and the creature slowly advanced toward them

"Darn, I knew I should have brought my bug spray." Matt whined as the giant drew closer, and everyone (despite the lack of room) huddled back.

"Okay, get ready to run guys." Tai stuttered, trying to face the end of his short 12 year old life with at least some nerve

Hibiki stared at him and cried "Run where exactly? Cause unless you plan on growing wings or something – we're toast!"

And just as she said it, Koromon and the others regained consciousness and stared the ferocious thing down

"No, we fight!"

"Huh?" Tai asked as the tiny warrior turned his gaze on him

"Yeah, it's the only way – stand and fight!"

"Give it a rest will ya."

Soon the other digimon followed his lead by trying to squirm out of the children's grasps

"Koromon's right - It's time to show what we're made of!" Motimon proclaimed

"No don't!" Izzy begged as he tried to keep the pink thing still

"They're right!" Yokomon said, turning her gaze on the monster turn

"No way," Sora cried, staring at the approaching terror, "it's hopeless, you're no match for him Yokomon!"

"Hibiki, leggo! I have to fight! I want to! I need to! I'm going to! I must! I should!" Purumon whined as it tried to break free from the tall girl's clutches

"Like heck you do! You've already given me enough heart attacks today!" She warned, trying to tighten her grip on the tiny black and grey creature

"LetmegoLetmegoLetmegoLetmego LetmegoLetmegoLetmegoLetme-"

"WecandoitWecandoitWecandoitW ecandoitWecandoitWecandoit-" Tokomon and Tsunomon shouted rapidly as they struggled to escape Matt and T.K.'s grips on them

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" Bukamon repeated as he flapped around to get Joe to release him

"Tanemon, you too?" Mimi asked worryingly as she saw the look of determination on her face, receiving a nod in response.

"I'm sorry Tai," Koromon said before he and the other digimon finally escaped from their partner's arms "Alright guys, lets go!"

As the digimon charged towards certain doom, the children all cried out in horror to them

"It's useless! Yokomon!"

"Don't do it Motimon!"

"No wait, don't do it Tsunomon!"

Don't go Tokomon!"

"Turn around - come back Bukamon!"

"Stop, come back Purumon!"

"Tanemon…Be careful!"

Tai stood their frozen in fear for a moment before trying to leap out after them

"No, don't Koromon! Come back!"

And then – like a sudden miracle – it happened. Just as Tai was chasing after Koromon, the strange device that landed him and the others in this situation suddenly started to glow as a giant black vortex opened up above them. From within it, eight beams of rainbow colored light swirled and shot down on each of the Digimon, bathing them in a multihued light as they started to transform

"Koromon Digivolve to – Agumon!"

"Yokomon Digivolve to – Biyomon!"

"Motimon Digivolve to – Tentamon!"

"Tsunomon Digivolve to – Gabumon!"

"Tokomon Digivolve to – Patamon!"

"Bukamon Digivolve to – Gomamon!"

"Purumon Digivolve to – Kushimon!

"Tanemon Digivole to – Palmon!"

"What happened to the little guys?" Sora gapped as she and the others stared at the newly-transformed digimon – for in their place stood a yellow-colored Dinosaur with long claws; a pink and blue bird with a ring around it's ankle; a red, ladybug-esk insectoid; A white and blue horned animal; a small orange creature with bat wings on it's head; a white and purple seal-like thing; A furry black and white bear with a long tail and collar; and a green plant-being with a pink flower protruding from it's head

"They…got bigger." Tai breathed as the Digimon returned to their assault on the giant beetle, only to get knocked away. However, unlike when they were in their previous forms, they managed to get back up this time

"Alright, you asked for it!" the dinosaur Agumon roared, and then the plant-creature Palmon and bear Kushimon circled Kuwagamon as he lifted into the air

"**Poison Ivy**!" Palmon shouted as her vine-like fingers extended and wrapped around it's right leg

"**Shadow Waylay**!" Kushimon growled, and dark tentacles shot from her paws and bound the other one, halting the colossus's flight while the tiny Patamon flew down towards him

"**Bubble Boom**!" He cried, and took a huge breath as he blasted the beast with a ball of air, forcing it to descend while Tentamon buzzed around it and electricity pulsed around his body.

"**Super shocker**!" he yelled, and the bolt produced hit the bigger bug spot on, allowing Gomamon to dash under its legs and trip him. Then Agumon, Gabumon, and Biyomon surrounded it and ready their attacks.

"Stand back everybody!" Agumon warned as orange flames foamed from his mouth "**Pepper Breath**!"

"**Blue Blaster**!" Gabumon howled as a stream of blue fire erupted from him

"**Sprial Twister**!" Biyomon squawked, and a spiral of green flame shot down on her target.

All three connected as they assaulted the beast with a inferno of colorful flames, and before it could react, all the Digimon gathered together for a final strike.

"Now then, altogether guys!" Agumon instructed, and soon the monster found itself bombarded upon with every element known as its chest burst into flames and crashed backwards into the forest behind it.

The children did nothing but stand there awestruck as Izzy managed to sputter out – "They made vaporware out of him…"

Victorious, the creatures then turned to their partners and ran over with prideful glee

"Told you we could do it!" Agumon laughed, and Tai couldn't help but crack a grin as he ran towards him and pick the oversized lizard up into a bear hug

"Koromon, or Agumon – or whoever you are," Tai cheered, "You did it, you did it, you did it!"

The other kids shared his enthusiasm as their own digimon ran into their arms, laughing along with them as they congratulated them on their triumph in defeating the monster Kuwagamon

Of course, the celebrating was promptly cut short at an all too familiar cry echoing from within the trees.

_Seriously, doesn't that thing ever give up…!_

Soon - like a horrific, unrelenting phoenix - Kuwagamon rose out from the forest again

"Watch out Tai!" Sora cautioned, and Tai quickly released Agumon as they saw the monster dive down for them and rejoined the others.

"Guess we celebrated too soon…" Tai nervously joked as the Digimon prepared to fight again

Then a** Very **bad sound was heard

"Did anyone hear something crack?" Hibiki asked, paling as ground around where the giant beetle embedded itself began to break apart. The ledge quickly gave away, and the poor children, who just moments ago were enjoying a nice day at camp, found themselves plunging through the air and straight towards death as they fell into the sea

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. I know, it sucks…**

Well, this was a fun chapter to write (mainly because I decided to rewatch Digimon to prepare. Ah, nostalgia~!). Sorry I didn't give much Character description on Minori or repeated so many words/phrases, cause as you well know – Being Fanfic writer is suffering, especially when chose to do a rewrite of a show you watched 13 years (Minori will get some face time and Character development – just not now).

So, if you have any questions/criticism/concerns, shot and I shall shot back! Oh, and tell me what you think of Hibiki (I want to make sure she remains a Sueless as possible).


	3. Chapter 3

[Four months ago]

"Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" Kino ask as she knelt down toward her little sister, who had taken refuge under her blankets, though it was hard to call it that since her bony legs were still poking out from beneath.

"I'm not overreacting! In anything - you're underreacting!" Hibiki cried in horror, sinking down deeper into her cotton cocoon, "I can't believe Mom's signed me up for summer camp! Of all the "fun" Summer vacation ideas in the world – she choose to send me to a place where I'll be miserable the whole summer."

"But think about," Kino said, trying to coast her sister out, "Hiking, experiencing nature, making new friends, eating smores, swim-uh, trying out Outdoor activities, it'll be fun!"

"So's Malaria."

The auburn-haired girl sighed as she clambered up onto the bed and wrapped her arms around the blanket barrier her sister had formed "Come on, it won't that bad. And it's not like your not coming back afterwards."

Hibiki didn't respond, and Kino hugged her tighter

"Besides, I'll be right there with you, so you won't have to worry. I promise."

Kino still didn't get a response, so she snuggled into her cocoon more as her stroke the top of where her little sister's head was hidden.

"And like Mom said, it's just summer camp – It's not like you're gonna die over there…"

* * *

[August 1, 1999 ]

* * *

It was official – Mother Nature was trying to kill her.

That or it had some strange, twisted, sadistic streak some rather cruel unsympathetic omni-being was taking advantage of and directing it at Hibiki. Why else then, would she, after being surprised with snow, sucked up by a tidal wave, dropped into a jungle, chased by a giant beetle monster scary enough that it'd make H.P Lovecraft cringe – now be sent tumbling to her doom with 7 other unlucky souls as they slowly fell to the deadly waves below.

The flying Digimon increased their descent to catch their partners and tried to keep them aloft - but the children were too heavy and ended up falling faster. Palmon and Kushimon grabbed onto their partners and used their attacks to grab on to a ledge, which quickly gave away under their combined weight.

_So this is how it all ends,_ Hibiki thought sullenly as the ocean drew nearer, _and I didn't even get to finish writing my letter to mom, or a will for that matter …_

Suddenly, Hibiki's lament was cut off when a voice shouted "**Marching Fish**!", and the water below rumbled as a school of multicolored fish sprang out and congregated, catching the falling kids and thus sparing them from an early watery grave. Hibiki hudddled into the center as quickly and closely as possible to avoid the risk off falling overboard

"Wow – this is some ride!" Tai exclaimed as the fish acted as a make-shift raft and continued down stream.

Just then though, Kuwagamon's roar resonated through the valley, and the young heroes turned to catch sight of it about to fall on them. Everyone screamed as Gomamon urged the fish to go faster, narrowly avoiding being crushed beneath the humongous bug and falling debris.

Too bad they couldn't avoid the huge wave that came after.

As the fish swam through the thrashing sea, the Children attempted to hold on for dear life and avoid being flung from their "raft". Eventually, the wave dropped them off onto dry land – soaked, but alive.

"I-I knew we'd be okay - I wasn't worried." Matt stuttered, ignored as the other children and their Digimon were busy taking in as much air as possible

"Never again, never again, never again…" Hibiki whimpered as she shivered and rung out her pigtails.

Joe fell to his knees as he straightened his glasses and gasped "W-what was that – a floating fish market or something?"

The little white and purple seal-creature who had summoned them crawled over to him "Lucky for us those fish were having a school reunion."

Joe stared dumbstruck for a moment before he explained "Just kidding, those fish are actually good friends of mine and I just asked them for a lift."

The blue-haired boy nodded and gave a huge goofy smile "And all these years I thought I was allergic to seafood! Thank you Bu–um, well, I guess it's not Bukamon anymore is it?"

The creature nodded "Nope, it's Gomamon now!"

T.K. stood and stared at the orange bat-winged creature, who was once the tiny and white Tokamon "And you aren't Tokamon now aren't you."

He nodded as well "Yep, now I'm Patamon"

"It's because we all digivolved!" Agumon said as the others had finally recovered from the shock and began to stand

Tai blinked a few times "Digivolved – that's definitely not a word in my dictionary…"

Izzy placed a hand on his chin as the gears in his head grinded "Digivolving seem to be an action they take by advancing to new level and become more powerful then before?"

Hibiki couldn't help but scratch her head "Advancing levels? You mean like Pokemon or something?"

Izzy stared at her for a moment "…What's a Pokemon?"

The ladybug creature then flew up next to him "That's right, all of us digivolved – I went from Motimon to Tentamon."

The pink and blue bird went next "I digivolved from Yokomon to Biyomon."

Then the pelt-wearing creature reintroduced himself to Matt "First I was Tsunomon, and now I am Gabumon."

The plant creature turned to Mimi "I changed from Tanemon to Palmon!"

Then the long tailed-Bear creature stepped up in front of her "I started out as Purumon and became Kushimon."

The yellow lizard went last "And I was Koromon, but then digivolved into Agumon thanks to you!"

Tai gave an absent minded nod as he took everything in "Well, when you digivolved, you sure got a lot…bigger. Does this mean you're all still Digimon or are you something different now?"

Agumon quickly shook his head "We're still Digimon, but what I mean is that to digivolve, I needed your help Tai."

The goggle wearing boy looked rather shocked as he pointed at himself "Me? For what?"

The dinosaur simply nodded and continued his explanation

"You see, digivolving is a very difficult process. So in order to be successful - I had to borrow energy from you."

"Really?" Tai asked, getting another nod in return while the others looked at their digimon for clarification

"So I guess this means you guys don't run on batteries?" Sora asked as Biyomon shook her head

"Sure don't!"

Hibiki stared at Kushimon for a while "This won't have any side-affects right? Because I kind of like my energy the way it is…"

The bear-creature gave the tall girl a dismissive wave "Don't worry, we don't take too much, and it doesn't hurt you when we use it."

Izzy turned to Tentamon, brows furrowed in confusion, "But how do you access this energy?"

The flying ladybug creature simply shrugged in response, "Even we don't know everything."

Palmon began twirling around in front of Mimi, who was clutching her head as the new information was pretty painful for her to take in

"Thanks for my magical powers Mimi!"

"Uhh, this whole thing is making my head dizzy~!"

T.K circled around Patamon excitedly, causing him some discomfort "So I helped you transform – That's so cool!"

"Yep. Sure is."

Joe crossed his arms and gave Gomamon a rather distrusting glance, "I'm not sure about this – my parents warned me about giving things to strangers…"

"I'm not a stranger Joe, I'm your best friend for life!" Gomamon counter, looking a bit hurt while Joe sighed

Matt then cut into the conversations "Okay, now that that's explained, what do we do now?"

Everyone mulled over Matt's question for a moment, but short of mailing a letter or sending out an SOS, no one really had any good ideas.

"If only there was a payphone nearby," Joe mused, catching the others attention, "Then we could call the police, or the fire department, or my mother…"

Tai nodded, but then stated, "But we don't even know where we are."

"But we know where we started, " Sora said, then pointed up to where they fell as she and the children saw a huge mountain spiraling up from the miles of thick forest above "Up there on that mountain."

Hibiki covered her eyes as she looked up with the others and gave a long whistle before they looked back at each other. Although Sora had a point, the mountain didn't look very close - or _safe _for that matter - so climbing back up didn't seem like a very likely option.

"I say we forget about going back up and explore around here." Matt suggested, to which Joe gave a rather incredulous look as he crossed his arms and stamp his foot down defiantly

"No way - I'm not exploring anywhere! I say we all stay right where we are till someone finds us."

Matt cocked an eyebrow at him in turn as he sarcastically said "Okay, fine – you can just stand there and wait around for that giant bug to come back and get us."

Joe just shivered as the image of the beetles bloodthirsty mandibles flashed in his mind, but remained rooted where he was.

Hibiki stared at the older blue haired boy for a bit before turning to the blonde "He's got a point though - We've only been here 10 seconds and already something tried to kill us, so looking around for something else to finish the job doesn't really sound fun! Especially when we don't know where we are."

Matt placed a gloved hand on his head as he argued, "I know that - what I mean is what we need to do is to find a road leading someplace away from here."

Izzy nodded in agreement "Matt's right - but without a map or compass, we don't even know which way north is here?"

Tentamon suddenly eagerly raised his hand "Wait, I know!"

"Really? Which way is it?"

"The opposite of south."

Izzy couldn't help but give an exasperated sigh while Joe started murmuring something about his pants and the others stood there in panicked silence.

Unnerved, Sora hastily tried and put things back on a positive homeward-bound track "You know, if we could get back up to where we were before we fell, we might find some clues as to why we ended up here…"

Mimi looked up at her wide eyed "Wait, what if there are more monsters like that giant beetle out there?"

Hibiki felt herself cringe at the thought, and quickly turned to Kushimon "Please tell me there aren't? Because I've already had my life flash before me three times in a row today and I am **not **itching for a fourth!"

Palmon suddenly jumped up as she answered with glee "Actually, there are!"

"R-really?" the pink clad girl asked

"Yes Indeedy!"

Mimi quickly grimaced as she held herself "Ick!"

Matt only scoffed, though the fear in his voice was some what apparent "Those monsters don't scare me."

"Tell that to them!" Hibiki shuddered

The others felt their once subsided panic rise again, and Tai turned to Agumon in hopes of gaining at least some good news "Okay, so you're all Digimon – But what about those monsters, are they Digimon too?"

"Yep" Agumon answered.

Tai considered the answer for a bit, then suddenly asked "Are there any other humans then?"

The yellow-orange lizard cocked his head in confusion "Humans? You mean there are others like you guys?"

The boy nodded, getting a shake in return "There's never been anything else but Digimon here – You guys are the first humans to set foot in this place."

The children soon felt their hearts sink as the possibility of contacting home (or civilization), pretty much dimmed with that statement - and what Sora said next just made things seem grimmer.

"This place is pretty creepy and dangerous …What's going to happen when it gets dark?"

All of them turned to each other as the question hung in the air like some oppressive cloud, mouths fused in silence as they waited for someone to answer her. None of them have ever stepped foot outside their homes after dark – save a few instances of naivety induced anarchy (And _those_ were just them peaking out the door past curfew) – mainly because of all the stories and warnings their parents about strangers and things that go bump in the night. But being stuck **here** after dark – in this unknown land with monsters that could come out of nowhere, with no map, no nightlights, and no other humans for how many miles; the question was terrifying to the point that none of them really knew how to respond to it – or wanted to.

Eventually, Matt quickly cut through the silence "Who says it even ever gets dark here?"

Izzy scowled and shot him an incredulous look "That phenomenon would be unnatural."

"And you call this natural?" Joe countered, pointing out the florescent fauna, and everyone went quiet again.

Tai stood there staring at his downtrodden friends, and as if fueled by some unknown source, suddenly stood tall with a determined, goofy smile

"Well, we're not gonna figure out anything by sitting here!" He said, and quick as he announced it, began to head down the riverside with Agumon

"Where do you think you're going?" Matt asked, and the goggled brunette simply turned his head

"Up on that cliff, where I saw the ocean."

"The ocean?"

"Yep! Before we fell I saw the river leading out to the ocean and a beach - We can see if we're nearby any land or find something we can use to get home."

Sora smiled as Tai continued on ward "That's perfect - If there's a dock nearby we might find boat there or something to get us out of here!"

Matt gave a skeptical chuckle and followed, Gobumon right behind

"Great idea – we can Jet-Ski home." He chortled, getting an annoyed look from Sora in response and she and Biyomon followed suite.

"Haha, Funny."

Joe remained where he was; eyes closed and determined to wait out rescue

"At times like this, I think we're better off finding a cave to hide in – We keep our eyes open and when the camp councilor gets here-"

"Hey Joe!" Gomamon called, and the bluenette stopped his rant to see the others had decided to join Tai and were leaving him behind save the white seal creature. "Everyone's leaving without us!

Startled, he hitched up his bag and gave chase

"Hey, wait for me!"

* * *

As the children and Digimon walked along the path, Sora couldn't help but take in the beauty of the forest next to them

"These trees are so beautiful." She breathed, admiring the brightly colored trunks and large flowers that bloomed around them as they swayed in the breeze.

Izzy, who was behind her, nodded in agreement "Yes, they are different – and I just thought they were subtropical…"

The admiration was cut short, however, by a loud sneeze from Joe, who was in the way back with Hibiki and Kushimon "Whatever they are – they're aggravating my hay fever!"

"Hey Joe – is there anything you _don't_ complain about!" Matt mocked, which got a chuckle from Gomamon while Joe frowned in response

Ignoring this, Izzy started up a conversation with Tentamon regarding their species name.

"Digital monsters – Just who came up with that term?"

The insectoid shrugged before giving a suggestion "Just call us Digimon - We like that!"

Izzy pouted at the lack of a proper response "I only asked because your composition is not at all machine-like…"

"Oh really…" he said, and created a huge spark of electricity between his shell flaps – causing the small genius to shield his eyes in surprise

"Hey, quit it!"

Meanwhile, T.K was asking more question of Patamon "So Patamon, can you really fly?"

"Of course!" The orange creature nodded, and quickly flapped the wings on his head to lift off – only to guild backwards as the weight of his body made him start to sink down

"That's really cool, but you're going the wrong way…" The small boy replied as Patamon desperately tried to remain airborne.

Biyomon gave a smug laugh as she lifted herself up into the air too "I can fly faster than that – watch!"

However, she encountered the same problem, and soon both digimon's partners were now leagues ahead of them

"Wouldn't it be fast to walk?" Sora asked, but both digimon stubbornly continued their flights

Behind them, Hibiki was educating Kushimon on Humans – or at least trying to.

"Do all humans look like you guys?" the Bear-digimon asked, opal eyes wide as she awaited Hibiki's "Knowledge"

"Well…not exactly." She answered, giving a doubtful scratch of her cheek "There are a lot of different kinds of Humans in our world."

"How are they different?"

"W-well, for starters - Some are taller, some are thicker, and have different skin than everyone else."

"Different skin? You mean like scales or fur?"

"Well…no - Or at least not any I know."

Elsewhere, Mimi was busy admiring the lush, large flower blooming upon Palmon's head

"So Palmon, I've been meaning to ask – who does your hair?" The girl ask, causing the small plant creature to fluff her petals with pride

"It's natural - I wake up in the morning like this." She explained, and Mimi barely contained her squeal as she clapped her hands together with glee

"Wow! Maybe you could let me work with it sometime?"

Palmon suddenly started blushing bright red at the thought "Don't you think you're too focused on appearances?"

The brunette paused for a moment and crossed her arms in deep thought "Well, to be honest – I never really thought about it."

"Well, honestly, I kinda like my hair the way it is." Palmon said, and the subject was soon dropped and replaced by how beautiful the jungle plants were.

In the front, Tai was busy musing over everything that had happened with Agumon

"Once I get back home, this is going to make one great story!" He grinned, getting a nod from Agumon in response

"Of course," He muttered, "Not a single soul would ever believe me…"

At that moment, Gabumon was taking in some of the fresh, ocean-scented air as the river widen into the sea ahead and, if one tilted their head, a stretch of sand curving outward

"Ahh, there's nothing like the ocean!" He said, taking in another nosefull while Gomamon, who was splashing around in the river, grinned as he jetted down the stream

"Everybody in the water!" He cheered, and all the children stopped to discus possible activities – except Hibiki, who declined jumping in the river

"Let's build a giant sandcastle!" T.K said, while Mimi pouted as she searched through her bag

"Oh shoot, I forgot my bathingsuit!" She whined

Suddenly, amidst their chattering, a strange piercing sound rung through the air

Matt raised a hand to quiet everyone "Hey, wait a minute – Listen."

Everyone went silent, allowing the sound to ring again for a few moments before they realized what it was

"A phone?" Tai asked

"Either that or we're all hearing things." Sora said, and the children went into a quick sprint, following the sound to a beach where they saw eight phone-booths lined up along the surf

Joe's eyes practically sparkled at the sight as he and the other children ran towards them like a godsend "I told you all we needed was a phone – we're saved!"

However, when they reached the first one and Tai opened the door to answer – the ringing stopped.

"Why'd it stop?" Agumon asked as the other children went to observe the other booths

"I dunno – wrong number maybe?" Tai shrugged as the other children caught up to him, perplexed at the sight of the booths in such a…unusual non-booth area...

"Well that's bizarre…" Sora said as Izzy stood next to her in deep contemplation "Wonder who put these here?"

"My theory is aliens," He justed quite seriously, and everyone stared "Considering events - that tidal wave was really a disguise for their ship to capture us and created this area to experiment on humans they caught. These phone-booths were most likely set up out here as traps." He guessed, getting a look from Hibiki in response

"Aliens? That's-" she started, then paused as she let the thought sit for a while _Well, considering how the day's gone…_

Matt stared at the glass boxes as a thought popped into his head "You know, if we can find a place that delivers – we could order pizza."

Mimi nodded enthusiastically, and her stomach seemed equally delighted "Whatever you order, just remember no anchovies for me, okay?"

Sora couldn't help but shake her head at their childishness "I think the real question is what are they doing here on the beach?"

"Simple – So people can call their parents for a ride home." Joe stated

Gomamon and the other digimon just looked up at him in abject confusion "What's a parents?"

Joe stood their dumbfounded for a few minutes and almost started to explain before giving a rather exasperated sigh "That's it – I quit. Some one do it."

Tai, at the meantime, was rummaging through his pockets before turning to the others "Anybody have any spare change on them?"

Izzy quirked a curious eyebrow "What for?"

"Obviously, I'm gonna call somebody and get help."

"Ahh," the red head said, then stuck a hand in his pocket and pulled out a card "Use my phone card – the aliens can bill me later."

Tai gave a nod of thanks as he took the card and headed back into the phonebooth with Agumon, while everyone else following suite while checking themselves for spare change in hopes of contacting home.

"Maybe there's a quarter in one of the slots?" T.K said and headed to the booth ahead of the one next to Tai's

"I'm calling my daddy" Mimi said as she eagerly ran to the 2nd booth and starting picking through her bag pockets for coins

"Dibs on booth 4" Sora cheered, only for Izzy to enter it and deciding to go to the next booth over

Izzy, meanwhile, had begun to pull out his laptop "I'm connecting to the internet."

Matt shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered over to booth TK was in "I'm calling collect."

"I'm gonna see if I can call my Mom at work." Hibiki announced as she jogged over to 6th booth and slipped inside

Joe desperately followed as he stumbled over to the last remaining booth "Hey guys, wait for me! Come on!"

Tai quickly slid Izzy's phone card in and dialed his home number.

He waited a few minutes before it sounded like someone picked up the phone

"Hello? Hey mom, it's me, I-"

"At the tone, the time will be 45 miles per hour, and 90 seconds." A voice replied, then hung up on him

Tai stood there baffled for a good five minutes before turning to Agumon "Either something's wrong or Mom's flipped?"

The others seemed to be having similar trouble with their calls as well

"Tomorrow's forecast calls for clear skies with occasional Ice cream."

"What do you wear for that?" Mimi asked, only getting silence in return

"The number you are calling only exists in your imagination. Please hang up, and don't call back."

Matt and TK exchanged confused glances as he stared at the receiver "What planet did I dial?"

"We're sorry, the number you are calling was just deleted. Please hang up after the beep."

Izzy sighed as he hung up his phone "I'm telling you, it's a twisted Alien joke."

"Maybe you should try that one?" Tentamon buzzed as he pointed to Sora's booth, getting a defeated shake from Biyomon

"No phones are working in your service area. Hang up and have a nice day!"

"I don't think that's a good idea" the pink avian murmured as the girl gave a perplexed glare at the phone

Tai walked over to see how things were progressing

"Any luck?" he asked

"No." the ginger-haired girl pouted, and crossed her arms while Tai looked over at Hibiki's booth

"You have reached no one. Please press 1 to sing, or hang up for more options."

"You've got to be joking me?" Hibiki whined, forcing herself not to strangle the receiver

"This is weird." He mumbled, placing a contemplative thumb over his chin "I have a strange feeling about this…"

* * *

After a few more failed tries, the children had decided to reconvene farther inland while Joe remained at shore and continued to futilely try dialing home

"Maybe this one will work?" He muttered, punching in the camp's contact number this time and waiting for the call to connect

"To leave a message, press 1 now. To leave a finger print, press 2 now. Fifteen dollars for the next three minutes." It said, and Joe gave a frustrated sigh as he hung up and redialed

"Okay, it's the next one for sure!"

The others watched with mixed looks of pity and amazement as they observed the bluenette continue his futile efforts

"Very curious...is Joe always like this?" Izzy asked as he fiddled with his laptop, which wasn't turning on since they got dropped off in this odd land

"Every single day." Tai deadpanned

Matt gave an irritable shake of his head "No matter what number he puts in or how many times he dials, those phones aren't going to work."

Tai's gaze remained on the phone booths for a few more minutes before he finally stood "I'm gonna keep looking for a boat or something."

"Hey wait a minute," Matt said, causing Tai to stop, "Even though we can't get a call through out here – there's a chance someone might be able to call us."

The brunette simply responded with an impatient doubtful look "Well it's a waste of time doing nothing but sit here."

"Well I'm gonna stay here for a little while and see if anyone calls," the blonde answered, and pointed to the exhausted group, who were laying on the beach miserably "Besides – everyone could use a break."

"And I'm getting pretty hungry too." Izzy added, and all their stomachs growled in unanimous pleading as Tai gave in

"Of course you are – we haven't eaten anything all day." Tai said, and turned to the others, "Okay, lunch break everybody!"

Sora eagerly nodded in agreement and reached for her fanny-pack "Does anybody else have any food? I think all I have is-"

She then paused as her hand brushed against a strange object attached to the belt of her fanny pack, revealing itself to be one of the devices the children received before this whole mess started

"Hey, it's that gadget that fell out of the sky at camp." She realized, prompting the others pull out their own devices as well.

"I forgot all about these weird gizmos." Tai responded as he looked intently at the palm-sized object

"If anyone's got a pink one, I'll trade." Mimi said

"They're all the same color Mimi," Hibiki pointed out, flinching at the pink-clad girls drooping mouth, "B-but you can probably paint it over."

TK stared at his in confusion for a while before finally asking "What are they anyways?"

Matt could only reply with a shake of his head "Don't know – but we wouldn't have them if they weren't important."

"If I could take my apart…" Izzy murmured, only to stop his mental deconstruction of the item when his stomach rumbled "Um, That is, after I get something to eat – I'm really famished."

Sora opened up her fanny pack and pulled out the contents "Well, the only thing I've got is my emergency supplies – a first aid kit, some bandages, and some medicine, but that's about it."

"I have my trusty laptop computer and a digital camera," Izzy listed as he pulled off the Velcro bag from his back and opened it up "Oh, and I've got a small cellphone too – but none of them's work since we got here."

Tai stared in dumbstruck awe over all of Izzy's electronics "I can't believe you dragged all this computer stuff to summer camp."

Feeling a tad insulted, the short red head couldn't help but shoot a glare at him "Oh really? And what did _you_ bring?"

The brunette looked rather flustered as he riffled through his pockets "Uh, lets see, I have…" He started, pulling out a small, cylindrical plastic object "My trusty mini telescope!"

Matt padded through his pockets, only feeling the coolness of his harmonica in one of them "Sorry guys, I don't have anything to eat either" he apologized, then was alerted by the delighted giggles of his brother

"Hey, look what I got!" TK grinned, unfastening his backpack to reveal a stockpile of snacks and candies that, while seemingly small, was equivalent a treasure-trove for the starving youngsters

"Wow, look at all those goodies!" Mimi gasped, crawling over with a saccharine smile as she pressed her hands together "Why don't you be a good little boy and share them with dear sweet Mimi."

The young boy grin grew wider at the words "Aw, you don't have to be so nice Mimi – I'm happy to share! You're the best!" he laughed as he turned to Matt "Isn't she cute?"

Matt simply groaned

Hibiki was emptying her short-all pockets and the small backpack she had lucky had with her when the wave showed up "I've got - some breath mints, my journal, a pen, some stickers, a book mark, my water bottle, a pager, and…a couple of batteries…" _What was I doing with batteries...?_

"Can we use the pager at least?" Sora asked. Hibiki nodded as she pressed the on button a few times, but nothing happened

"It's not turning on – must have broke when we landed here."

The rests simply grumbled over the failure to find anything edible while their stomachs whined

"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" Tai whined

"I'd settle for a small cow." Izzy moaned

Sora looked over at Mimi, who was busy trying to pick out which of TK's snacks she should eat first, and stared at the huge bag at her side before she asked "Hey Mimi, what've got in that big bag?" _Bet it's just a bunch of hair brushes and makeup_

Unaware of the intent of the question, Mimi pulled her bag in front of her to empty out its contents "Ah, let's take a look…"

The next thing the children knew – Mimi had pulled out enough survival supplies to keep a Green Beret happy for years "Here's a compass, cooking fuel, a flashlight, one of those knives with all the things, and some other stuff."

The group ooed in astonishment, some considering all the fun things they could do with the supplies until Matt's voice brought them out of their daydream

"Wait - why didn't you tell us you had a compass when we needed one?" the blonde asked rather irritably, and the others leaned in eagerly as they awaited her answer

"I thought it'd be kinda fun to see how far we could get without it!" She smiled, and the group (minus TK) had to hold themselves back from hitting her when she added "Besides – it's broken."

Tai gave a rather depressed sigh as the others dropped their heads in defeat "Well, so much for finding our way out of here."

"Although," Matt mused "We could use the cooking fuel to make a signal fire."

Sora sunk her chin deeper into her knees as she directed a rather heated glare at the dysfunctional phone-booths ahead "That's true - Or we could barbeque some telephones..."

Tai followed her gaze and spotted Joe, who still hadn't left the booth. Leaning forward, he tried listening into what Joe was trying to say.

"…lo Operator, I'd like to contact a phone repair service…"

The boy couldn't help but laugh at the sight - or maybe he just needed something to distract him from the fact that the group was most likely going to starve to death and he'd never see him mom or sister again…

"Check out the genius," he smirked, pointing out the desperate blunette still dialing away "See, he's trying to call the telephone repair man because the phones don't work. Problem is-"

However, midway through his mocking, Tai's eyes laid upon Joe's bag and noticed something was written on it. Squinting hard, he managed to read out "Emergency bag" and something clicked - the camp councilor mentioned a bag of emergency supplies on the off chance they got lost or separated from the adults during a hike, and inside the bag should have been tons of food for them to feast on.

"Look!" He cried, surprising the others "Joe's got the emergency food!"

"What, no way!" Izzy exclaimed, and they immediately tried to get Joe's attention

"Joe – Hey Joe!" Tai called out, causing the older boy to pause from his umpteenth dialing attempt "Look, you've got all the food!"

However, Joe's face morphed into a confused, then angry glare as he shouted back "Hey, don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone when they're on the phone!"

"But Joe, that bag-" Izzy had started, but Joe cut him off as he held it up

"This? I just brought it to give to Mimi – Today's her day to carry it!"

Thinking back, the other children remembered that the councilor, upon introducing the bag, instructed them to hand off the bag to a different person in their cabin to carry every day so that it was on hand at all times (that and some jibber jabber about teaching cooperation and responsibility and what not…). However, when the switch off was supposed to be done that morning- Mimi had skipped out and managed to avoid taking it all day by saying she was busy or would take it later – and the fact that they had been abducted by unknown forces into a strange world they didn't know of didn't mean they could ignore camp rules or common decency right? The children turned their attention to Mimi, who was reacting rather vehemently to something Palmon had whispered to her.

Joe hung up the nonsense-spewing phone and lumbered over, holding the emergency bag out to her as his glare deepened at the girl simply staring back all seemingly nonchalant

"Mimi, you have to stop being so selfish and do something to help others for a change – take a little responsibility!" he yelled in a stern, lecturing voice, causing Mimi to pout as she stared at the bulky thing

"But – that bag's too heavy for me!" She said glaring back, "Besides, my other bag's just as heavy! Carrying that one around too would be hard!"

Joe felt his blood boil more

"Listen, you don't hear me complaining-" he began, only to be interrupted by Tai – who was eager to prevent a shouting match (especially when they had bigger issues to deal with than who carries the emergency bag)

"Guys, guys," He said, smile twitching nervously as the two aimed their still livid sights on him "Listen – the most important thing now is that we have food, so let's sit down and have some lunch."

The others quickly nodded in agreement, though Joe and Mimi kept up their glaring contest up for a few more moments before helping bring out all the food from the bag

* * *

Once all the food was sorted out, the children and their digimon sat around in a huge circle as Joe volunteered to try to calculate how long they could make the food last amongst the eight of them. He felt pretty nervous what with all of them staring at him like they were expecting him to give some extravagant sermon – but he was the oldest, he had more experience, more wisdom, and had paid attention to the councilor's speeches about outdoor safety and survival, so he had to take it upon himself to take responsibility and reasonably divide the rations so they'd survive long enough for someone to come get them out of this crazy place. Besides; he was taking algebra next year, how hard could dividing food be…

"Okay, there are eight people in the group times three days times three meals. That comes to…" Joe mumbled nervously, feeling the stares on him more heavily now. He tried to arrange the math in his head, but the numbers turned and assaulted him rather than get into neat little equations

"Seventy-two meals." Izzy answered stoically, instantly bringing Joe out of his mathematical purgatory

"Ahh, right, so split evenly between us, we have, uh-"

Izzy answered again "Enough food for three days."

"Right, oh exactly – guess you knew that."

"But what about the Digimon?" Sora added, causing the tall blunette to jolt "When you add them in, we only have enough food for about half an hour."

Joe couldn't help but let the sting from failing to do a good job with the rations calculations double when he realized he had forgotten about adding in their new friends "Well-oh, that's right…"

Suddenly, Gabumon spoke up "Not a problem at all – we Digimon hunt and forage for our own food." He said

"You do?" Sora asked, and the other Digimon grunted in agreement

"No need to include us in your calculations!" Tentamon assured, but although the other children conceded to their Digimon's wishes, Sora was still unsure and turned to Biyomon

"Are you sure you'll be fine Biyomon?"

The pink bird gave a confident nod to her partner "Oh absolutely! We can do alright by ourselves."

Joe, despite himself, couldn't help but smile successfully "Okay, now that that's taken care of, let's go ahead and divide today's meal between the eight people who are here."

Suddenly, loud, smacking sounds were heard, causing the children to turn and see Tai and Agumon already stuffing their faces

"Wow, this is great!" Tai moaned happily as he took another bite of a snack pack he opened "I could eat a dozen of these!"

Joe's eyes twitched as he irritably cleared his throat to get the snacking boy's attention "Ahem, Just what do you think _you're_ doing?"

Tai raised an eyebrow at him "Being glad we can't hear you complaining." He answered mockingly; causing Joe to growl in response as he angrily raised his fists in the air

"You people make me crazy!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Gomamon was lazily floating in the ocean and enjoying himself, when something felt amiss, making him flip over and cautiously eye his surroundings

Back on the beach, as the children were enjoying their lunch, Biyomon's head perked up as she turned to stare at the ocean rather heatedly, gaining the attention of her partner

"What's the matter?" Sora asked

"Trouble."

The second the word came tumbling out of her beak, a huge torrent of water shot up from the ocean, startling the rest of the group as they stood to try and figure out what had caused it. However, before any guesses could be made, more torrents shot up – this time on land, sending the telephone booths caterwauling into the air as the children ran for cover, narrowing avoiding being crushed to death when they plummeted back to the quaking beach while they took shelter near the walls of a nearby sea cliff. Once the torrents and shaking had stopped, a huge one spouted and revealed a giant spiked shell drilling up to the surface.

"What is THAT?" Izzy screeched as the shell fully spun its way to the surface

"Shellmon!" Tentamon answered fearfully

"What's a Shellmon?"

"Something that does that for no reason!"

The shell eventually stopped spinning, and from it stretched out two, large bumpy pink arms and a grotesque turtle-like head with wide blue eyes and stringy yellow "hair" popping out from up atop its head, letting out a hideous cry. The children felt the same paralyzing terror as when they were up against Kuwagamon return as they stared, frozen in place, some trying desperately trying to either stop their limbs from shaking or their teeth from chattering.

"Attacked by two Digimon in one day," Joe moaned "I mean does Shellmon even know I'm allergic to shellfish."

The monster suddenly turned and set its sights on them, letting out another blood chilling cry. Joe then turned and dashed towards the wall they were standing behind, urging the others to follow.

"Everyone, up here!" He yelled as he started to climb up, while the others (after getting over the amazement over how fast he could climb) tried finding steady ledges in the cliff to climb up on. Unfortunately, Shellmon spotted him and lowed its head as it shot out a huge stream of water at him from it, causing him to fall to the ground hard, the other children circling him to see if he was alright

"Joe!" Gomamon cried getting the monster's attention as well as it spat another torrent in his direction this time, blasting him out of the water and onto the beach.

Seeing their partners in danger, the other Digimon quickly leaped into action

"Digimon – attack!" Agumon roared, and the creatures charged into battle with the colossus Shellmon.

"Alright Agumon, you show him!" Tai cheered as the yellow lizard reared his head back while orange flames gathered in his mouth

"**Pepper breath**!" He shouted as an orange fire ball hit the gigantic shelled-creature square in the face.

Gabumon quickly ran over as he prepared his attack, stretching his jaws wide

"**Blue Blaster**!"

However, instead of a mighty stream of blue fire like last time, Gabumon mouth produced a weak rivulet of azure that went out before it even reached its target.

Biyomon flew over and started to produce a spiral of green as she shouted "**Spiral Twister**!", but the spiral wasn't forming properly and extinguished itself

Tentamon dashed ahead of her and opened up the back of his wing covers "**Electro Shocker**!" he yelled, but only a measly spark was generated.

"What's happening to them?" Izzy gasped worriedly as Matt helped Sora put Joe right side up, staring at the scene as well.

"I don't know – they look like they've lost their powers."

Recovered from Agumon's attack, Shellmon lowed it's head again and shot a huge torrent at the four attacking digimon – knocking Biyomon and Tentamon out of the sky while sending Gabumon and Agumon right to the ground. Patamon, Palmon, and Kushimon came over and attempted to provide back up, but their attacks didn't come out either - And as it did with the others, Shellmon knocked them all down. However, Agumon suddenly pushed himself up, and sent another Pepper Breath the fiend's way, making it crumple back a tiny bit

"Yeah, go get him Agumon!" Tai rooted while the other children ran over to their dazed Digimon, surprised Agumon was still able to fight. In fact, it seemed to them that Agumon was the only one who could actually use his attack…

"Why is it only Agumon?" Izzy wondered as he knelt down towards Tentamon, who then said something rather shocking

"W-We're too hungry…"

"Gabumon?" Matt whispered as he sat the Digimon up, who let out a weak moan

"I-I'm so hungry, I don't have any strength…"

"That's it," Sora realized as she picked up the unconscious Biyomon "Agumon's the only one who had anything to eat! They need food so they can use their powers, but since they let us eat their share..."

Izzy and Matt nodded as her words sunk in

"I see…"

"...Then the Digimon don't have any strength left to fight."

Upon hearing this, Tai quickly turned back to the battle and called out to Agumon, who had barely dodged a hand sweep from Shellmon. The poor lizard looked like he was struggling, but with the others so low on power, everything now fell on them. Tai braced himself - it was like that episode of his favorite show he watched when he was little where the hero's friends were defeated and he was the only thing standing between them and the bad guys. Someone had to fight and it was them.

"Agumon!" He yelled, getting the lizard's attention "Looks like it's just you and me now!"

"Then give me a diversion!" Agumon yelled back, causing the goggled boy to grin as he ran over, waving his arms at the colossal beast

"Hey Ugly, over here!"

The other children watched with awed terror as Sora cried out in horror

"No Tai, don't!"

Shellmon was distracted enough for Agumon to send another Pepper Breath his way, but Tai's taunting wasn't enough. He couldn't give up now, not while everyone was counting on him and Agumon to take down the creep! Looking around, he spotted a pole lying in the ground amongst the telephone debris.

"This'll work!" He grinned as he quickly grabbed the pole and charged at Shellmon, sending a few brave whacks at its armored back

"How do you like that?"

However, not only did Shellmon barely feel the hits, but as soon as it saw the strange little ant futilely striking at it, used one of the tentacles on it's head to pick him up and tried seeing if it could squeeze him in two

"Tai, hold on!" Agumon cried as he ran to save his partner – only to be stomped on by one of Shellmon's massive hands and held down as it got ready to shoot another torrent out of its head – this time at Tai's now defenseless friends and their weakened partners

Tai tried squirming free, hoping that maybe – just maybe, if he could get himself loose he could jump down and get everyone out of the way, or stop Shellmon(somehow), or even try and pull Agumon from his enormous hand. But the tentacle's grip only grew tighter around him, letting out a strangled scream of warning as he watched everyone get sent hurtling across the beach by the water pulse. The grip grew stronger, and any air his lungs had already gathered was being pushed out as Shellmon prepared to finish the felled children off. With whatever oxygen he had left, He let out a pain filled cry of frustration_ He's gonna get everyone and there's nothing I can do about it!_

Agumon, despite the pain and the unbearable pressure of the monster's massive hand upon his back, tried desperately to push himself up, tried to stand, tried to do something – anything – so he could save Tai and his friends.

_Must save Tai, Must save Friends, Must save Tai, Must save Friends, Must save Tai…_ He mentally mantraed as he dug his claws into the ground

_Must save Tai, Must save Friends, Must save Tai…_

He tried to push himself up, but the act just made Shellmon press down harder

_Must save Tai, Must save Friends, Must save Tai…_

The pain kept growing as he kept pushing, Tai's cries of pain ringing in his ears

_Must save Tai, Must save Tai, Must save Friends…_

He wanted to stop, wanted to give up, but the sight of his hurt allies and the sounds of the suffering Tai wouldn't let him. He couldn't let it stop him, he had to remain focused, had to…

_Must save Tai, Must save Tai, Must save Tai, Must save Friends…_

His arms were giving out, maybe if he stopped for a moment… but then he heard Tai cry out in pain, and every thought at that moment vanished into one singular focus as he roared

_MUST SAVE TAI!_

"DIGIVOLVE!"

Then suddenly, Tai's device started to glow, blinding both him as his captor and almost making him miss Agumon suddenly be enveloped in a bright luminescence of orange

"W-what's going on?" Tai croaked as the Agumon-shaped glow grew bigger in size and toppled over Shellmon, which in turn cause the shelled-fiend to release him and send him tumbling across the sand. When he recovered, the glowing began to fade from Agumon's new form

"Agumon Digivolve to – Greymon!"

The tiny yellow lizard had transformed into a grey striped orange Tyrannosaurus with a brown skull covering his face like a battle mask.

Tai, though still in pain, stared up at the humongous being, eyes sparkling with awe

"Whoa…He did it again – now he's Greymon." He gasped, a tiny grin forming

Shellmon, now recovered, quickly stood and charged at Greymon, who quickly grabbed the two arms propelled at him. Soon both were in a heated grudge match, neither side yielding, but it seemed Greymon had the advantage and began pushing Shellmon back.

Tai's grin grew wider as he slowly stood; irritating the aches he had from being squeezed as he cupped his hands together and cheered for his now larger buddy

"Now your getting him, go Greymon!"

The giant dino smirked as he pushed even harder, neon purple flames dripping through his sharp teeth as he opened his jaws wide.

"**Digi Nova Blast!**" he roared as a stream of cosmic colored flame poured out of his mouth and straight towards Shellmon. Shellmon tried countering with a water torrent, the collision producing steam as both tried to overpower the other. Eventually, the Digi Nova blast won and sent the monster skidding across the sands. Greymon then grabbed both hand and spun it around a few times before letting Shellmon go flying through the sky, hitting it with another blast of purple fire that sent it hurtling into the horizon.

Tai watching the creature go sailing away as Greymon, now victorious, was soon suddenly bathed in another bath of light and shrunk, turning back into Agumon, who immediately made friends with the ground.

"Whoa – what, Agumon!" Tai cried as he quickly stumbled over, carefully kneeling down as he shook the unconscious Agumon "Are you alright, you poor little guy? Agumon! Speak to me!"

Agumon slowly lifted his head as he weakly mumbled "Tai…Tai!"

"Yeah, I'm here! What's wrong?"

"Do you…have anything…to eat?"

Tai stared at him for a few minutes, then laughed, despite how much it hurt at the moment, despite how perplexedly Agumon was staring at him, and despite how badly his tears were blinding him.

* * *

Once everyone was checked over (and Sora had yelled at Tai for a good 30 minutes about how badly he scared her and how he could have gotten himself killed and to never pull a stunt like that again), The group decided it was best to prepare and decide what their next course of action would be. Sora, Mimi, Hibiki, and TK were feeding the Digimon while Tai, Matt, and Izzy were discussing their current situation

"Now that the phone booths are gone, there's really no reason to stay here anymore now." Tai said

Izzy nodded in agreement, but Matt instead pointed out to Joe, who at the moment was desperately trying to make a call in one of the broken booth

"So who wants to break the bad news to Joe?" The blond asked, but the two simply stared at Joe rather pitifully

"Hello, operator? Come one, I know you're there!" Joe cried into the dead receiver while Gomamon stared at him "Operator? OPERATOR!"

Meanwhile, the girls and TK were with the Digimon, feeding them their portion of the rations so they would be strong enough to travel (and be able to fight if they ran into any more surprises)

"If you want some more, just say so!" Sora smiled while the Digimon stuffed their faces.

Back with the boys, they were still discussing over where to go next. Tai suggested they continue the way they were going and keep combing the beach till they find something, but…

"Shellmon wasn't destroyed, just temporarily removed," Izzy stated, "We should pack up and leave before he decides he wants to come back for round two."

"Good Idea." Matt nodded, though the question of "where" was still up for debate. They still didn't know where to go or what was out there...

"In that case, we should go right back to the forest," a voice piped, and the three turned to see Joe, who had just given up on the broken booth and came over in time to overhear Izzy's suggestion "Because if anybody's looking for us, that's the place they'll go!"

Sora, who had finished feeding the Digimon, gave a rather exasperated look at the bespectacled Bluenette "Joe, I said this before – we fell off a cliff and floated down a river to get here, and getting back's a really big job."

"And besides," Mimi quivered, hold Palmon tight "We could run into Kuwagamon again, or worse!"

The children started murmuring to themselves rather worriedly for a while before Izzy, realizing their situation would just deteriorate further if this continued, cut in

"Now look," He started "Logically speaking, If there are telephones here, then there may be people to use them – So I think it makes sense to try to find those people."

Joe replayed the explanation in his mind a few times over before asking "That makes sense?"

"It certainly does." Sora said

"But didn't the Digimon say we're the first human's here?" Hibiki countered "How do we know if there are even any other people to find?"

"That's true, but we're also the first human's the Digimon have ever had contact with," Izzy replied, getting a nod from Tentamon for approval "So it stands to reason that there's a chance there are humans here that they've yet to encounter, and there's also a chance we may find those humans."

"Besides," he added, "It can't hurt to try right?"

_Just like it didn't hurt coming here_ Hibiki thought, but simply nodded "…I guess so."

"Well then – let's all get going!" Tai cheered as the group gathered their things while their Digimon walked up to them.

"Anywhere you wanna go Tai I'll go – just pick the direction!" Agumon said with a smile, causing Tai to grin back

"Then let's get out of here!"

"And let the monsters beware!" Matt smirked, and they headed off

Joe looked rather reluctant to leave, but eventually joined them "Umm, well my plan is to avoid all monsters – Yep, that's my plan!"

_I second on that_ Hibiki thought

And the lost Children walked off onto their next adventure

* * *

Extended ending Omake – Cheer!

* * *

"We should shout something!" Tai suddenly said as the group was leaving the beach area

"Shout something?" Matt asked

"Yeah – on TV, the heroes always shout something when they're about to go on a journey or beat the monster the bad guys sent. We should do something like that – it's actually really empowering!"

The others seemed keen to the idea (minus two reluctant indiviuals), and started launching off suggestions left and right. Even the Digimon joined in -

"Let's go!"

"Excelsior!"

"And away we go!"

"Go team go."

"This is silly, we shouldn't worry about-"

"Alright!"

"V for Victory!"

However, despite all the "good" ideas, no one could agree on what should be said. They continued to walk in silence until TK suddenly piped -

"How about "Digimon"?"

The group looked at each other for a bit before turning to the Digimon, who all nodded

"That's a good idea." Biyomon said

"It's empowering and amazing!" Tentamon added in

The children all grinned, and faced the horizon with strong vigor as the walked, Tai's grin the biggest as prepared to raise his fist

"Okay – here we go!" he shouted, and everyone (yes, even the individuals who wanted nothing to do with it) pumped their fists high in the air as their combined cheers pieced the skies themselves

"DIGIMON!"

* * *

I do not own Digimon – I simply delude myself into thinking this by making Fanfics like this

Well, finally got the next Chapter out (Hurray for me!) after having to deal with homework and the SATs (hoping for a good score). I tried keeping everyone in Character, but also added some stuff, hope you guys like it. Should I keep doing the Extended ending Omake? Also, Should I continue with the flashbacks, or should I just focus on the story.

Thanks for reading – oh, and if you have question, comment or PM me and I'll answer to the best of my abilities (So long as they don't pertain to future plot spoilers)!


	4. Chapter 4

[Three years ago]

* * *

"TK slow down!" Matt warned as his brother raced ahead of him, trying to speed up to catch the swift child. But TK simply ran even fast as he rushed down the street

"Haha, I'm gonna get home first!" the small boy laughed as he practically leaped over the concrete path "Then you'll have to show me that trick you did at the park!"

However, halfway to the corner that turned into their street, TK had tripped and toppled onto the pavement, causing Matt to panic as he ran over to the younger blonde, who had immediately started crying the second he hit the ground

"TK!" He cried as he knelt down to check him over "I told you to be careful!"

He seemed fine minus the scrape on his knee, but was blubbering tears and snot all over the place. After Matt managed to calm him down a bit (and wipe the snot from his face), the two headed home, Matt tightly gripping TK's hand and keeping pace to make sure he didn't fall again. As they headed towards their home, TK started to sniffle, and Matt stopped for a moment and knelt down to his brother's level

"Hey TK," he said, getting the whimpering boy's attention "After Mom cleans up your knee, she's gonna give you a HUGE bowl of ice cream."

"Re-really?" the blonde child murmured, getting a nod from his elder

"Yep, and afterwards, I'll show you that trick I did and let you read any of my comics you want – but you have to promise me you'll stop crying okay?"

TK was quiet for a few moments before wiping the tears from his eyes, and a huge grin formed on his face "Okay, I promise!"

When they entered the house, his parents were already there, as if waiting for them.

"TK, what happened to your knee?" His mother asked as she came over and bent down to the blonde child's level.

"I fell," he said "But Matt made me feel all better!"

His mother looked at him for a few minutes before smiling and scoping TK up

"That's good. You're very lucky to have such a nice big brother"

* * *

[August 1, 1999]

* * *

After hours of vain searching for adult life, the group stopped at a cliff over the beach to enjoy the view while bemoaning their situation a bit

"We've almost searched the entire beach and still haven't found a single person!" Tai whined, dropping his head as the brilliant sun sparkled across the white sand below him

In the back however, Hibiki had her nose in her notebook. She figured with all the insane things happening right now that no professional could ever explain – it was best to get her current and (most likely) future traumas on paper and let the _other_ professionals figure it out.

_Today, we got sucked up by a tidal wave at camp,_ she wrote _It was weird though, because the wave didn't feel wet or anything – like it wasn't there. I don't remember what happened after though. When I woke up, I was alone except for this weird creature named Punimon who said she was my friend. After walking around, I found the other campers that got sucked up and saw they had a bunch of creatures with them that were like her. They said they're called "Digimon", but that's pretty much the only concrete thing we know about them at the moment (that and they all have "Mon" at the end of their names). Then we got attacked by a beetle that chased us everywhere – but then Punimon and the others did something called "Digivolving" and fought him – but that just got us all knocked off a cliff. But then Joe's digimon Gomamon summoned a bunch of fish and brought us to shore. Then we walked around the forest until we heard phones ringing and ended up on a beach full of telephone booths that didn't work (I thing the water made them all wonky)! Then we had lunch, but this giant shellfish monster (called Shellmon weirdly enough) came out of no where and attacked us…_

Meanwhile, Tai was taking to Agumon about something very pressing…

"That was pretty cool, the way you beat up Shellmon back there – it was amazing." Tai grinned as he recalled Agumon earlier heroics with glee while the lizard nervously chuckled.

"Aww, it was nothing." He said "I just wanted to save you and everyone."

"Still-" Tai started, then suddenly asked "Hey Agumon, no offense but I really liked it when you were Greymon – why didn't you stay that way?"

"I can't stay Digivolved for long," Agumon explained, causing the boy to sigh a bit

"Really, that's too ba-"

"-Besides," he laughed "Even superheroes need their rest."

In response, Tai nearly fell off the cliff in surprise, and Agumon had to quickly grab the goggled brunette by the back of his shirt to keep him steady, causing the others to laugh. However, the laughter was suddenly cut off as a tremorous growl was heard, and the children turned to see a Grey and black creature with a huge black horn protruding from it's nose (Hibiki would say it looked like a Rhino, but the fins of it's head made her think of a triceratops without the two extra horns). The children all instinctively flinched as it turned it's gaze on them, and Izzy turned to Tentamon

"W-who's that Digimon?" The red-head asked while his insectoid partner responded rather calmly

"It's a Monochromon," he explained "but don't worry about him, he's a pretty laidback Digimon."

The others were a bit relieved to hear that, until Monochromon started growling at them quite fiercely

"Although it a bit wise to be somewhat cautious of them," He added "They tend to get a bit miffed when they're hungry…"

_Now you tell us!_ Hibiki thought as the creature started lumbering towards them

"Then he must starving cause he looks really mad!" Tai gulped as they all took a step back while Monochromon got closer still

"And I think we're on the Menu." Mimi squeaked.

The nose-horned monster gave another roar, and the children immediately turned tail. Sadly, however, they did not get far as another Monochromon suddenly appeared and blocked off their escape path.

"There are two them!" Matt cried as the young heroes looked back and forth between their obstacles "Great - we're stuck between a rock and two sets of teeth!"

"Please be herbivores, please be herbivores, please be herbivores…" Hibiki whimpered as she unconsciously clutched Kushimon

However, suddenly the two brutes shifted their gazes towards each other and charged, allowing their original targets to escape and run up the rocky hill they were standing behind, watching in awe and confusion as the two Digimon battled from behind two boulders

"That was close." Hibiki muttered aloud as they ducked to avoid the flying debris and pebbles _Lucky us they're mad enough to start fighting each other instead …_

Tai nodded and flinched when the first Monochromon bit into the second's tail "Yeah – something must have really set those Monochromon off for them to suddenly start fighting like that."

"They must be fighting over territory…" Tentamon observed as the two beast continued to slam into each other

Palmon cringed as she turned around "Well they can just have it then!" she huffed and started to run off, Mimi following behind the second she noticed her partner leaving

"Hey, don't leave without me!" She cried, and the other followed suite as the monster's fight escalated.

"Why do you think those Monochromon changed they're minds about attacking us?" Sora panted as she started to feel an annoying sense of déjà-vu set in.

"Who knows?" Tai wheezed in response while the sounds of the battle slowly died "But whatever it was, they certainly don't need us hanging around!"

On there way, TK had tripped and fell over Patamon, causing Matt to stop and turn around to pull him up

"TK, come on!" He urged, causing Tai to turn towards them as he ran

"Better hurry up you guys!" he called, and suddenly, TK had pushed himself up

"'Kay, we're coming!" He said, and ran off to catch up with the others, causing Matt to blink a few times before starting to run again

* * *

Once they had gotten far enough, the group had found themselves once again lost in a suspicious jungle, the only thing helping them recognize their way were the oddly place traffic signs that popped out of the foliage from time to time

"This stinks!" Mimi whined as she stopped to lean against a tree "I don't walk this much unless I'm at a mall – And as you can see, we're no where near one!"

"Mimi, stop whining!" Tai snapped as he walked right past her, but the girl remained rooted where she was

"No! My feet hurt!"

"Maybe if you took off your boots and socks off you'd feel better?" Agumon suggested as he stopped in front of her, motioning at his own bare claws "It's much more practical, I think?"

Mimi's nose crinkled in disgust "I'm not going to walk around and dirty my bare feet!"

Palmon, upon over hearing, quickly walked over and innocently tried to appeal to the pink clad girl

"I love the feel of dirt beneath my feet," she said, wiggling her "toes" before kneeling down "Especially between my toes!"

Mimi wasn't feeling any better about the idea.

When Izzy and the others caught up, he noticed it had gotten a lot darker

"It appears we may be losing our light source…" He observed aloud, but looked up and noticed that, rather than seeing a golden yellow sun sinking into the horizon, saw an explosion of bright colors fading into the sky from a center of white light instead. Izzy frustrated searched through every faucet of his brain for an explanation for such an unusual sunset – for an explanation for everything that was happening to them, but came up empty. The others noticed it too and were just as perplexed as he was.

"Is the sky supposed to look like its exploding?" Hibiki asked, getting silence as a response as Sora shrugged

"Dunno, must be only for here I guess," She said, covering her eyes as she followed the intricate patterns of the skyline "what a weird sunset…"

"This whole island's weird!" Izzy cried as his threw his head into his hands "And who knows what'll come out at night!"

At those words, the children all froze. In the excitement of seeing Agumon digivolve and nearly escaping for their lives (again), they had forgotten that they still had not figured out how they were going to deal with the whole "After dark" situation, or sleeping arrangements even – especially since none of them had had the opportunity to have the forethought of bringing a tent or sleeping bag with them…

Suddenly, Tentamon's antennas twitched, staring straight ahead as he tried to focus on the sensation until…

"Wait," He said, turning everyone's attention to him "I detect water nearby, stay here while I check it out!"

And as quickly as he had made his discovery, Tentamon's shell flaps opened up and he shot up into the air, becoming invisible in the foliage. The children stood there curiously, looking up into the trees for the insectoid until he suddenly called out to them

"Yes!" He cheered "As usual, I'm right! There's a lake with fresh clean water and a variety of tasty fish – a perfect campsite!"

Mimi's eyes sparkled at Tentamon's description "Maybe I can soak my poor achy feet!"

_You better be doing that __**after **__we get water out to drink and stuff._ Hibiki thought warily

Gomamon was practically dancing for joy "Yay – we get to swim!" he cheered as he tried to run off ahead, only to be stopped by Joe, who quickly grabbed the white creature's tail

"Wait Gomamon, we have to make sure it's safe first!"

"Joe's right," Hibiki said "Fun as it is running for my life every ten seconds, we really should have a plan in case something shows up so we don't have to do the Million Man March again."

"But that'll take forever!" Mimi cried, rubbing her legs "We should go there now!"

"Mimi, we can't just go there! We have to think of…"

As the argument continued, Matt looked over at TK, who had slumped down against a nearby tree with an exhausted Patamon.

_We can't keep going like this_ He thought, then turned to the others as they fought and gave a heated glare at the three

"It's not selfish not wanting to walk there! I'm just saying we might not find another area like this nearby-" Mimi started when an irritable Matt interrupted

"That's why I think we should keep going and stop all the complaining."

"Who's complaining?" they all shouted, and soon Matt found himself dragged into the argument too, with a desperate Tai and a worried Sora attempting to calm things down

However, before it could mutate into a full on verbal warfare, everyone's stomachs growl, and everyone's anger lessened as they focused more on being embarrassed over realizing how long ago it was that they ate, allowing Tai to try and get everyone on the same page again and keep another argument from erupting.

"Look - Everybody's hungry," he said, getting a supporting nod from Sora "We should calm down and go find some food."

"That-" Joe started before his stomach growled again "is a good plan, I like that plan a lot."

* * *

After what seemed like hours of walking (Which felt longer due to Mimi starting to complain about her feet again), the group finally made it to the lake, which was just as Tentamon described – a crisp clear lake that stretched far as the eye could see as it reflected the dusk sky.

"It should be safe to rest here at night." Biyomon chirped while Sora looked out at the lake with the others

"Yeah, I love camping outside!"

Hibiki, on the other hand, was focusing more on the giant transmission towers dotting the lake's surface.

_Are there really fish here?_ Hibiki though before turning to Izzy "Hey Izzy, is it safe for those towers to be in the water?"

Izzy held his chin to his hand for a moment before answering "Technically no, but seeing as the phone booths earlier worked perfectly fine despite their proximity to the shore and salt water exposure, not to mention the odd messages – It's quite possible that electricity, or at least electronics, work differently here than they do back home…Though the most likely cause is that the aliens used high quality insulating-type materials when they built them."

Hibiki blinked a few times "…So, is that a yes?"

Meanwhile, Mimi was throwing yet another fit, this time about their sleeping arrangements. Since no one had any sleeping bags on them or blankets or tents, Tai decided that they would have to make due by sleeping on the ground and using whatever they had and was nearby as makeshift bedding. However, dear Mimi was not willing to go along with this…

"If you think I won't walk barefoot in the dirt, what makes you think I'll sleep in it?" She cried, causing Tai's eyes to twitch as he rubbed his temples and pointed around the area

"Mimi, do you _see_ a hotel here," Tai asked rather crossly while the red-clad girl just pouted "Because unless you can make one magically appear, you really don't have much of a choice, so-"

However, before he could finish, Mimi's face suddenly lit up with surprise as a strange noise filled the air, causing Tai and the others to follow her gaze as their faces matched Mimi's at the sight

"What's that?" Tai asked as he squinted, trying to get a better look at the thing.

"It looks like a trolley car." TK as he squinted too, and the others followed and gasped

It was a large Trolley car, standing solitary on a small inlet on the lake as it suddenly came to life, the inside compartments illuminated light by light. The children stood there awestruck as its head lights shined and the machine hummed while antenna that's suppose connect it to the electricity wire sparked with unknown energy. Once it stopped, they all turned to each other, wondering where it came from (or why they didn't notice it before) and, more importantly, why it turned on all of a sudden without a power source.

"T-that's odd," Izzy said, trying to stop himself from stuttering "T-the lights just came on all by themselves."

Sora tried squinting more to get a better look, but couldn't see inside "Maybe there are people inside?"

Tai quickly nodded "Then let's check it out!"

As the children ran towards the trolley, Mimi had gotten ahead of them, practically leaving a dust trail behind her as she dragged herself and Palmmon forward

"Maybe it can take us back home!" She cheered, imagining how warm and snug she'd be inside as they told the people inside of their plight as the conductor rode them all back home, calling her father to tell him all about the horrible time she had and how she never wanted to be in another summer camp as long as she lived! "And in air conditioned comfort too!"

"Mimi, wait up!" Tai called, managing to get past her and opened up the trolley to find –

"Huh?" the brunette gaped, staring around in the vacant trolley compartment as he walked inside "Bummer, its empty."

"Totally empty…" Sora breathed as she and the other caught up, looking around to see if maybe there was someone hiding inside.

"Impossible," Izzy said as he inspected the floor, almost seeing his reflection in the smooth shinny floor "How else could it have turned on? And besides, no trolley's this clean!"

Mimi, however, wasn't paying attention to the fact that there was no one inside to whisk her back to her papa and instead plopped herself down onto the plush seats

"Oh goody, these cushions are comfy~!" she said as she bounced up and down

As the others filed in, Tai was still looking around for any signs of life – previous or otherwise. He crossed his arms as a sense of confusion and dread piled up inside him.

"Wait, something's not right," He started, getting the others attention "Remember those weird phone booths we saw on the beach" the others nodded "well something just as freaky could happen here."

"Yeah," Joe agreed as he made his way to the conductor's chair and tried seeing if any of the controls worked "Like this thing suddenly turning on by itself."

"Possibly," Tai said "but then again, maybe that's how we're suppose to get home…?"

Sora smiled as she sat down "So we have nothing to lose by staying here."

Suddenly, someone stomach growled, and the owner let out an impatient buzz

"Can we eat now?"

The brunette let out a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head "That's right, I forgot."

* * *

After getting out of the trolley, everyone was split into groups and assigned a task – Tai and Matt would make the fire pit, Sora and Joe would collect firewood, Mimi and Hibiki would check around with some of the Digimon to collect fruits or edible plants, and Izzy, TK, Gomamon, and Kushimon were to fish.

As you can guess, things were working out smoothly…

"Gomamon! Stop playing around!" Izzy cried as the white seal creature splashed around in the lake "I can't catch anything if you keep scaring the fish away!"

"No problem," Kushimon stated as she pulled her claw back "**Shadow Waylay**!"

Three black tentacles shot out from her paws and slammed into the water, sending Gomamon and three fish in the air which she caught with her other one – leaving Izzy and TK soaked in the process while Gomamon fell back into the lake

"T-thanks Kushimon, but maybe we should stick with the fishing rods…"

Meanwhile, Sora and Joe were returning with the wood they had gathered

"This should be enough to get a good fire going." Joe said

"Yeah, lucky us there were so many broken branches lying around." Sora replied

Up above them, Tentamon was nibbling on some berries he found in a nearby tree

"Yum yum, you can't have too many berries down the hatch!"

Elsewhere, Patamon was atop of Agumon's head, puffing himself up and then sending a Bubble Boom at a Banana in a high up branch – which sent it crashing down onto a unwary Gabumon's head

"Oops! Sorry Gabumon." The creature apologized as the larger one was rubbing his sore head, inciting a laugh from Biyomon.

"Oh boy, you better watch that killer breath of your Patamon!" she chortled as she flew up to a nearby tree to grab at it fruit, but was unable to pull it down with her beak.

Nearby, Hibiki was knocking some oddly colored fruit from the trees with a stick, barely managing to catch them, while Mimi spotted some tasty looking red mushrooms growing on a tree trunk and was about to pick them until…

"Wait!" Palmon called out, causing the pink hat wearing brunette to pause as she ran over to her "Those are bad mushrooms! If you eat'em, you'll get sick!"

Mimi quickly retracted her hand and gave the plant being a surprised, then grateful look "Really? Thanks for warning me!"

Hibiki walked over carrying the fruit she found, which was dirty and bruised since most of them hit the ground instead of landing in Hibiki's arms "Hey, do either of you know which of these fruits is okay to eat?"

Palmon scanned over Hibiki's harvest "The blue and red ones are fine, but you should throw out the green ones or you'll get stomach aches."

Hibiki nodded as Mimi clapped her hands together approvingly "Wow, we'd be in a big mess without you Palmon, thanks! You're really the best!"

Palmon grinned as she stretched herself taller with her legs "Oh stop!"

Back at the groups "Campsite", Tai, Matt, and Sora were looking over the fire pit, which was now filled with the twigs and branches Sora and Joe gathered. It wasn't perfect, but they did pretty well considering they built it based off memory on how the councilor did it.

"We're all set to cook diner," Matt said as he rubbed the dirt from making the pit off his hands "Now all we need is the grub."

"Great, but how are we suppose to light the fire?" Sora asked as she gestured at the unlit kindling

Agumon (who was returning from fruit gathering with the others) ran over to them and over heard the dilemma

"That's easy – like this!" he said, and spat a small fireball onto the firewood, setting it ablaze

The trio looked rather happy as Tai sent Agumon a thumbs up "Wow Agumon, you're the man!"

The yellow lizard blushed as he rubbed the back of his head nervously and chuckled.

Suddenly, TK and Izzy returned from their fishing spot, carrying loads of mackerel

"Hey Lookit!"

"We caught a bunch of fish!"

Tai grinned as he took the fish from the red head "Awesome guys, lets eat!"

TK handed on the fish to Matt, which he took rather indifferently "Thanks."

Tai, meanwhile, was holding his fish over the flames, attempting to heat it since this was his first time actually having to use skills he did not posses – namely cooking without instructions or his mother helping him. Didn't help this was pretty much his and everyone else's first time outdoor cooking (Or doing anything Cooking/Outdoor related for that manner).

"Times like this make me wish I had a microwave…" He grumbled as Matt walked over

"Me too, cause you're about to lose your fingers!" he said snarkily as he stabbed his fish with a stick and planted it near the fire "Why don't you use a stick?"

Tai stared at him a few minutes before following Matt's example "Neat! How'd you come up with that?"

The blond gave the brunette a wire grin as he jabbed a finger at himself "Because I'm the man!"

* * *

Once Mimi and Hibiki returned with the fruit and plants they found with Palmon, everyone gathered around the fire and enjoyed the roasted fish, while the digimon snacked on the fruits collected as Tentamon began telling tales about the lake.

"You see, there's a legend about a fish here that's bigger than a tree, and sleeps right here under the lake…"

As Matt bit into his food, he noticed TK was hesitating

"TK, you should eat your fish" He said as the younger blonde gave his fish a dubious look

"But Mom says I'm only allowed to eat fish sticks…."

"Don't worry about it and eat, I won't tell."

"But she says I'm not allowed to eat with my fingers either…"

"I said it's alright!" Matt snapped, causing the younger to flinch

Tai, who had finished his food, overheard and leaned over to the bickering siblings "Yeah, You're hanging with the big boys now! No need to worry."

The blonde boy seemed to relax a bit and bit and finally started eating, and Tai got up to wash up.

_That was close_ He thought, looking back to see TK was happily biting into his fish, but Matt seemed to be glowering a bit.

Once he got far enough, he noticed Sora collecting water "Hey Sora!"

"Oh, Hi Tai."

"Hey listen…is it me or does Matt treats TK more like he's a bother than a little brother sometimes. He's pretty mean to him."

Sora was quiet for a moment before answering "…Actually, I noticed that too. He's been keeping his distance from him a lot since we got here."

"Yeah, and he gets mad at him a lot too."

"There's probably a reason though."

"I wonder–"

"Come on Tai, Matt's probably still learning to be a big brother. Besides, don't you ever act that way with your sister?"

"Yeah, I mean, Kari gets on my nerves sometimes, but I never treat her like that."

Before they could continue their conversation though, Joe suddenly surprised them from the bushes. However, he was more focused on the sky than them.

"Hey Joe, what'cha looking at?" Sora asked, taking the blunette out of his musing.

"Oh, I've been trying to figure out which direction we've be going," He explained, pointing up at the sky "But the stars seem so be all mixed up here – I haven't even been able to find the North Star anywhere!"

Tai and Sora looked up, realizing that neither could identify a single star cluster in the night sky.

"Your right, I don't recognize any of these constellations…" Sora murmured

"Hey wait a minute," Tai started, get the two's attention "Didn't the councilor say once that if you can't see the North Star you must be on the other side of the world?"

Sora considered this for a bit "Do you think we could have been brought to the southern hemisphere or something?"

Joe crossed his arms as he thought about it too "It's possible – if we're still on earth that is?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Tai asked

"Well, considering all the weird stuff we've run into…And Izzy did say it's highly possible for most of the stuff we found to have been placed there by other sentient species besides the Digimon." Joe stared, but quickly waved his hands "It's just a theory though; I still think we're still in the region and the councilors are still looking for us."

Tai simply turned away and headed back towards the campfire "Man, you really shouldn't take Izzy so seriously…"

* * *

By the time they got back, some of the Digimon had fallen asleep, and Tai felt a bit groggy himself.

"Man, I'm getting really tired, maybe we should hit the hay…" he yawned

However, Izzy suddenly stood with a concerned look "Wait, shouldn't we have someone stand guard for a while, since we don't know what sort of nocturnal species this place has walking around at night…"

"He's right," Joe said, "So, who should go first?"

Tai mentally counted off everyone before saying "How bout we each take turns and stand guard for about an hour, to make things fair and so everyone can get some Zs."

Everyone seemed to be agreement with the plan, except a certain older blonde "Not TK."

"Aw come on, I wanna help too Matt!" TK pleaded, but Matt looked rather adamant in his decision

"No, you're too young! Besides, you need your rest anyways."

Mimi stood to stretch her limbs, but suddenly started shivering "I'm getting cold! Are you sure no one brought a blanket with them?" She then eyed Gabumon and came up to him "You're so lucky, having that nice fur coat!"

Gabumon gave a nervous chuckle "Actually, it's my real fur." He explained, causing the girl to pout

"Darn, I was gonna ask if I could borrow it for the night! And it looks so warm too."

Tai gave a devious smirk at the creature as he tugged on his fur a bit "Hear that Gabumon~! Better keep an eye open tonight, or Mimi might sneak up on you and cut all your fur off to make herself a coat of her own."

"S-stop, don't say that!" Gabumon whimpered as he back away from the two and turned to Mimi "Y-you wouldn't do that would you Mimi?"

"Of course not," Mimi countered "Not without asking at least!"

_Not helping_… Hibiki thought as Gabumon edged further away while Tai explained how Mimi would do the deed.

"If you feel a slight tug while you're sleeping, that's Mimi measuring how long she wants the coat to be…" he cackled, besetting the cowering Gabumon with images off Mimi creeping up on him in his sleep with scissors and a razor, wearing a wicked grin

But before Tai could laugh and state he was joking when he realized how pale Gabumon got, Matt suddenly came over and shoved him "Quit it!"

Tai stumbled a bit "Hey, what was that for!"

"Gabumon told you to stop, so knock it off!"

"I was just joking!"

"And I said quit it!"

"Hey, back off! You can't tell me what to do!"

Before anyone could do anything, the two got into a shoving match and grabbed a fistful of each others' shirts before TK cried for them to stop, and both boys turned away from each other with a deep-set glare

Everyone was deathly quiet as the two refused to look at each other until Joe stepped in "Okay, since both of you have so much energy, you'll both make perfect guards! Who wants to go first?"

Tai and Matt immediately spun around to face him and yelled "I will!", then argued over who would be a better guardsman

"I should go first! It was my idea to have everyone take turns, and you wouldn't be able to watch out for anything!"

"No way! I said I would first, so I should go first! Besides, you'd fall asleep in the first 10 seconds of your shift!"

TK smiled while the others sighed – they were fighting now, but at least they weren't trying to kill each other anymore.

"How about this," Joe suggested, "You guys do rock paper scissors, and the winner gets to do the first shift while the loser does the second one, then Izzy can take over after that and I'll go last and come back so that everyone can get some shut eye. Then tomorrow night, the people who didn't go can take their turn."

Tai and Matt glowered at one another for a few minutes before nodding and crumpling up their fists

"Rock, paper, scissors…"

* * *

As everyone prepared for bed, Mimi was having a hard time getting comfortable – mainly because the Digimon had made a nest on the floor (making it impossible for her to move her legs around), and she had to share the seat with Hibiki and Izzy, so she wasn't allowed to put her feet up or anything because it would disturb the other two.

"Oh~, I can't sleep with all of you here!" She cried, causing an exhausted Hibiki to glare at her while an equally tired Sora sighed.

"Stop complaining Mimi," she yawned, "It's not perfect, but it's something - Just be glad we have someplace to sleep at all."

"She's right," Izzy grumbled as he curled up onto the seat.

"Besides," Hibiki murmured as she pulled her legs up "You said you didn't want to sleep outside right? It may be cramped but at least you won't get covered in dirt_." And maybe you'll stop complaining about your darn feet._

Mimi looked like she wanted to complain again, but she kept her mouth shut when Joe started speaking

"Okay, good night everyone." He said as he pulled off his glasses and carefully placed them in his pocket

"Good night!" TK yawned as he cuddled up with Patamon "Don't let the Monochromon bite."

_Thanks for the reminder…_and they all drifted off to sleep

Matt shifted around as he tried to fall asleep, but every time he closed his eyes, he found himself wide awake

_Darn it!_ _I can't fall asleep…_

He looked over to the others and saw TK shivering, then carefully woke up Gabumon

"Hey Gabumon." He whispered as the Digimon yawned a bit

"Yes Matt?"

"Go over there and sleep next to TK."

"Why?"

"Because…" He started, then suddenly looked away "Your fur's making me all sweaty, now go!"

Gabumon looked over at TK before looking back at Matt and smiling "Oh, I get it - you want me to keep TK warm. That's sweet of you."

"Hey, I didn't-" he squeaked before quieting down when he saw TK stir in his sleep, "I didn't say that."

"Of course you did," Gabumon chuckled as he slipped off the seat and waddled over to TK "You just don't want to admit it."

Matt gave an embarrassed sigh as he watched TK snuggle against Gabumon, and tried to hit the hay again too, but still couldn't find himself able to sleep. Everything was getting so crazy with those Digimon attacks, but what was mainly bothering him was the fact that he couldn't get TK to listen to him. How was Tai able to get his little brother to relax about the situation while he couldn't even manage to get him to eat a fish! It felt like being that reliable older brother TK was supposed to depend on was becoming more and more impossible for him. Was the seperation effecting their relationship that much...

Eventually, he stood and decided to go outside to get some fresh air. But before he could leave, He heard TK suddenly speak

"Thanks Matt." The boy said, causing the older blonde to blush with embarrassment as he quickly made his way outside

* * *

Sitting in front of the fire they had built to keep warm, Tai let out a huge yawn as his head sunk a bit

"You need to stay awake Tai," Agumon warned as his partner's eyes began to droop shut "You don't want to fall asleep on your first night watch do you?"

The goggled brunette answered with another yawn and rubbed his eyes "Sorry, but my eyes just won't stay open." He then stood up, stretching his arms as he headed for the lake's edge "I'm going to splash some water on my face, maybe that'll keep me up."

As he walked, he stepped over a patch of waxy red dirt (he had wondered what was in it, but decided to ask Izzy in the morning), unaware that it had begun to move…

Once he got to the edge and began splashing his face, the scuffling of feet caught his attention

"Huh, who's there?" He called out, and looked over his shoulder only to spot Matt staring up behind him "Oh, it's you. What are you doing here – still think I can't handle this?"

Matt was silent for a moment before he let out a huge breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding "I couldn't sleep."

Tai blinked a few times before walking over "Really? How come?"

Matt shrugged, eyes still watching the sky.

There was a long, pregnant pause until Matt suddenly spoke again "Look… I'm sorry about earlier."

Tai nodded and follow his gaze "No problem. Sorry about scaring Gabumon, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's okay. I didn't mean to get so mad about it, it's just…that with being here and having to watch TK, I'm a bit stressed out."

Tai stared at him for a while "…I've been meaning to ask - why do you always treat TK like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like he's a bother. You act really distant with him, like you guys don't live in the same house."

"Actually," Matt started, "We don't…Not anymore at least – Our parents got divorced a long time ago, so we don't see each other much."

"I see." Tai said _That explains a lot…_

Silence engulfed them again before Matt asked "Hey Tai?"

"Yeah?"

Matt opened his mouth for only a short moment before suddenly putting his hands in his pockets and running off, leaving Tai confused as he walked back to the fire

"What was that?" Agumon asked as Tai sat next to him

"Oh, I ran into Matt, said he couldn't sleep." Tai murmured, thinking about the conversation they had just had

_Our parents got divorced a long time ago, so we don't see each other much._

"...Matt's a little strange isn't he?" Tai said aloud.

As the two stared into the fire, they were surprised by the sound of a harmonica drifting through the air. Looking around, they spotted Matt, leaning against a tree as he played.

Inside the trolley, Gabumon awoke, heading outside and following the sound until he came upon Matt

"What a wonderful sound."

Tai started to close his eyes as the song continued, barely dodging an airborne ember when the fire started to crackle.

"Woah! Careful Agumon – the fire's starting to let off sparks."

And the ember went sailing into the air and onto the patch of red Tai walked over earlier, and that's when it happened - the island started to shake and the lake water grew choppy, startling everyone in the trolley awake while Tai and Matt watched in respective horror as a large serpent emerged from the water, letting out a mighty hiss.

* * *

Inside the trolley, everyone grabbed onto whatever they could as the passenger car continued to tremble.

"W-what's going on?!" Sora stammered as Mimi grabbed onto Palmon and started crying.

"It's an earthquake!"

"The trolley's moving!" Joe gasped, then looked out the window and felt his blood freeze when he saw the monster outside "but I don't think it's taking us home…"

Izzy followed his gaze and gulped "He's right – it's taking us towards that sea monster!"

Tentamon looked forward as well and gave a frightened buzz "Oh no, it's Seadramon!"

Once the shaking started to slow, everyone rushed out of the trolley and gaped at the monster in front of them

"That's five in one whole day!" Hibiki cried as she wobbled out "Are they trying for a world record or something!"

Suddenly, Seadramon dove forward, and the island moved with it, breaking apart the tiny bridge connecting it to the mainland.

"T-the land's moving…" Matt shivered as the island got farther and farther away.

Meanwhile, everyone was trying not to fall off as the island was pulled forward at a frightening speed

"Hold on tight everyone!" Agumon cautioned as the creature in front picked up speed and the children screamed in terror while griping the ground for dear life as the lake around them blurred

Suddenly, the creature slowed down, and surprisingly, so did the island. Everyone took the time to stand as Tai stared at the monster in surprise

"How is he doing that?"

"He must be pulling us by his tail or something," Izzy observed as he looked around for where the creature was tethering itself "And seeing as how he hasn't attack us yet, he must not even know we're onboard."

"Of course not, Seadramon are very dense," Tentamon explained, flying down onto the red patch the three were standing around "So long as he doesn't see us, we should be safe."

At the word "safe", Seadramon suddenly turned around to see his tiny little stowaways, and everyone froze as he glared down on all of them

"Don't be too sure about that Tentamon." Agumon whimpered as the insectoid turned angrily to him and his partner

"Great, you two jinxed us, now he knows we're here!" he scolded, and Agumon and Tai gave a confused glance back

"What? We didn't say anything."

Seadramon began to hiss again, and suddenly the red patch Tentamon was on moved upward, flipping him into the air.

"Guess he knows we're here now." Izzy gulped as the serpent's tail poked out from the water, and Tai gasped as he thought back to that red patch he walked over and the red fin on the end of his tail

"T-that red patch – it was his tail!" the young brunette screeched _I was wondering why that part of the ground was there and why it seemed so waxy when I stepped on it! Seadramon must have been under us the whole time!_

The monster let out an angry roar as it slammed his tail onto the island, knocking everyone to the ground with the quaking before diving under.

"W-where'd he go!" someone cried, and got their answer when the island shook again and launched forward – straight for the transmission towers and mainland.

"We're gonna crash into the shore!"

"This is really going to mess up my hair!"

Matt gritted his teeth as he jump straight into the freezing lake and swam towards the moving island "TK!"

Gabumon hesitated a bit "Uhh.."

"Gabumon come on!"

He gulped and stood there for another moment before jumping in after him "Matt, I'm just letting you know when my fur gets wet, it's really stinky!"

As the island continued on its way to the mainland, it crashed into a group of unseen transmission towers, which stopped the run away inlet.

The group steadied themselves and looked around, realizing they were in the middle of the lake and were too far away from shore to swim back (Not that Hibiki could).

"Great, he left us in the middle of the lake!" Tai grumbled while the others sighed with relief that at least they stopped when they crashed and not something worse...

"Think we could trick him in to taking us back?" Hibiki asked sarcastically, but was left unanswered when Seadramon roar pierced their ears again and the mighty monster swam towards them.

So the Digimon stepped forward

"Come on guys - let's send him back to the fishery!" Agumon ordered, and the creatures began their assault.

"**Spiral Twister**!"

"**Boom Bubble**!"

"**Poison Ivy**!"

"**Super Shocker**!"

"**Shadow Waylay**!"

"**Pepper Breath**!"

However, every attack they sent at Seadramon either didn't reach or had no effect, and only managed to make the monster more irritable as it slammed its tail at the island again.

_None of their attacks worked!_ Tai panicked as he turned to Agumon "Agumon, quick – you have to digivolve!"

"I've been trying," he said "But I can't seem to do it."

"W-what, Why not?"

"I must have used all my energy last time and my body hasn't recovered yet."

Tai took a step back, remembering how Agumon had fallen over after the battle ended "B-but if you can't help us now…then how are we suppose to beat Seadramon."

Meanwhile, Matt and Gabumon were getting closer to the island, and TK had spotted him coming up

"Matt…?" He said as he ran over to the edge of the island and waved "Matt! Don't get too close or the monster will get you!"

At the same moment, Seadramon had hit the island again, causing TK to fall into the lake.

"TK!" Matt cried as he picked up speed, not noticing someone else dive in after TK. When he and Gabumon got to where TK fell and were about to dive in after him, the young boy suddenly surfaced, sitting atop of Gomamon's back. Matt floated there confused until he heard Joe and Tai calling from ahead.

"Gomamon," Joe yelled "Is TK okay?"

"Yeah!" Gomamon called back "And Matt and Gabumon are here too!"

"Alright!" shouted Tai "Now we have a chance to even the score – get up here Matt!"

Seadramon halted his assault on the island and turned to Matt and TK, hissing at the two while the Digimon tried to attack again. Matt quickly turned to his brother and Gomamon.

"Gomamon, take TK back to the others okay?" he asked, getting a nod in return as the tiny white creature swam back to shore, while he turned to the giant serpent and swam out in front of him.

_Gotta get him away from the island_ he thought as he shouted "Hey, over here you overgrown water snake!"

The giant sea beast hissed at the insult, unaware of Gabumon sneaking up from behind

"**Blue Blaster**!" He cried as the stream of blue struck Seadramon straight in the face, leaving a huge bruise. However it wasn't enough, and the now-angered giant moved his tail underneath Gabumon and flipped in out of the lake, sending him plummeting to the island while he dove down into the lake.

_Where'd it go?_ Matt thought, then suddenly felt something wrap around his body and drag him under the water…

* * *

"Oh no, Matt!"

"Where'd he go?"

"Seadramon must've-"

"Don't say that! We have to go save him!"

"How?"

As the older children tried to find Matt, TK was standing there teary eyed. It had happened so quickly – Gabumon's attack had actually done some damage and the group thought they may have had a chance to take him down, but all it did was make him angry and throw Gabumon out of the water, and disappeared. Then next thing they knew, Matt's head suddenly disappeared into the lake, and everyone panicked while TK stood frozen staring out at the spot where he had last seen his brother floating.

_It's all my fault. Matt only stayed in the water so he could save me, and now-_

TK's lip quivered as his eyes grew wetter _If Matt's gone…It'll be all my fault - I'll never forgive myself…_

Suddenly, Seadramon surfaced again, and wrapped around his tail was Matt, who was alive – but not for very long considering that Seadramon was trying to crush him between his tail fins.

"This is bad!" Tentamon buzzed worriedly "Seadramons may be bubble brains, but once they gets a hold of their prey they won't let go till they stop breathing!"

The sea monster hissed challenging as his tail wrapped tighter around Matt, causing him to scream out in pain.

Tai's fist clenched as he glared, remembering the pain he was in when Shellmon caught him, and now he felt completely helpless to save Matt – is this how everyone else felt when that happen?

_Well now I'm on the other side – so I have to save him!_ He thought, then turned to Agumon and pointed at Seadramon "Agumon quick, Use Pepper-"

Suddenly, Sora grabbed his hand while pointing at Seadramon with the other "Wait! if you do that, you might hit Matt!"

"But we can't just stand here!" He snapped, cringing as Matt screamed again "We have to do something!"

TK quivered as his brother's screams increased "Matt, hang on!" and looked down at Patamon "Patamon, please help him! Can't you fly in close and hit Seadramon with a Boom Bubble or something!"

The tiny orange creature solemnly shook his head "Seadramon's way too strong – I just don't have enough power to fight him." He then turned to Gabumon "Gabumon, you're stronger, how about you?"

Gabumon shook a bit. True, he had managed to do some damage to Seadramon, but even then he barely scratched him and nearly got thrown past the island as a result (plus his fur would reek if he jumped into the lake again) - How in the world was he suppose to…

Seadramon squeezed Matt harder and his screams increased in volume.

Gabumon flinched a bit as he stared out at giant monster "Y-your right, Matt's in trouble and I should help him."

"Matt!" TK cried as he stared out in horror until suddenly, his eyes hardened into a determined glare "Matt, hold on! I'll find a way to save you even if it's the last thing I do!"

Gabumon stared at the resolute look on TK's face, then got on of his own as his gaze locked onto Matt as a strange feeling flowed through him "Yes Matt, We've coming!"

He didn't know why, but he suddenly had this unbearable urge to fight Seadramon until he released Matt, that he had to save him. Besides, in the short time they've been together, Matt had treated him like a true comrade and saved him plenty of times – and now it was time to return the favor._  
_Then suddenly, the device attached to Matt's belt began to glow, nearly blinding Seadramon and startling Matt and the others as Gabumon was enveloped in the same glow.

_Matt, I don't know what's happening to me – but I'll save you no matter what! Besides, what's a little being thrown around and wet fur compared to a friend like you._

Soon, the glow grew and began to change shape -

"Gabumon Digivolve to – Garurumon!"

- And once the glow disappeared, revealed a giant white and blue striped wolf with a long thin tail in Gabumon's place.

Everyone gaped as the lupine beast took a speedy charge at Seadramon and struck his tail, forcing him to release Matt and drop him into the water while Garurumon circled around and bit his tail hard. As they struggled in the water, Matt surfaced and wobbly swam to the island where everyone else was, occasionally looking back at the fight. The giant serpent hissed as he swatted Garurumon off with his tail and slammed him into the water.

_I can't believe it, Gabumon digivolved…_Matt thought as he shakily tried to bring himself up to land, surprised when two pairs of hands suddenly grab each of his arms and helped pull him up.

"Easy does it." Joe said as he and Tai let him go, letting the Blonde catch his breath while TK ran up to him

"You okay Matt?" TK asked

"Yeah," He breathed, then looked back to see the water snake hissing triumphantly while Garurumon had suddenly vanished "But what about Garurumon? I don't see him."

Right on cue, Garurumon rose from the water and rushed past Seadramon, catching him off guard and allowing him to strike him directly full force. The sea beast tried hitting back, but suddenly growled in pain when his tail struck him with no avail, allowing the blue and white wolf to hit him again

"W-wow," Izzy muttered as he watched the battle with the others "He's so strong that Seadramon got hurt trying to hit him!"

"Of course, Garurumon's fur is legendary!" Tentamon explained "They say it's as strong as steel – He's like a growling torpedo."

"That's amazing, he must be invincible!"

"Well, that's what I've heard, we'll soon find out."

Tai's eyes narrowed as Seadramon started backing away "Let's hope they weren't exaggerating like your fish stories."

Seadramon continued to back away, then suddenly opened his mouth and breathed out some sort of strange powder blue mist that began to freeze Garurumon and the area around him. The children gasped as the lupine beast was encased in ice, making them surprised and awed when he swiftly broke free as blue flames seeping from his fangs and he opened his mouth as well

"**Howling Blaster!**" He roared, and a torrent of dark blue streamed out straight at the sea beast, causing him to fume and smoke as he sank back into the dark depths of the lake.

Garurumon gave a victorious howl before glowing and shrinking back into Gabumon, who slowly made his way back to the island and the others.

* * *

Once he got to land, he shook his fur, which surprisingly wasn't too wet.

"Wow, fighting sure is a good way to keep your fur dry." He said to himself as Matt and TK ran over to him

"Gabumon, are you okay?" Matt asked as the Digimon smiled back.

"I'm alright," he answered "What about you?"

Matt responding with a huge grin, trying to hide the pain from his sore body "Fine thanks to you – you digivolved in Garurumon just in time, I though I was gonna be seafood for a minute there."

TK had a matching grin as he gave Gabumon a tight hug "Thanks for saving my brother Gabumon!"

"Anytime little friend." He chuckled.

"You were so strong," TK gushed as he turned to Matt "And you were really cool Matt, going against that monster by yourself!"

Matt blushed and shyly looked away "Y-yeah, you think so?"

TK and Gabumon nodded

"Yeah, you were the man!" Gabumon laughed, and Matt couldn't help but laugh along with him

"Yeah, and you're the wolf-man!"

The others walked over to them and Joe couldn't help but let out a sigh as the rest were suddenly infected by the good mood and began laughing too.

"Okay, very funny. Now how are we suppose to get back?"

"Like this!" Gomamon said, and suddenly jumped into the water.

Everything was quiet until…

"**Marching Fish!**"

Suddenly, the island began moving (again), and the children ran over to where Gomamon had jumped to see a battalion of fish pushing them to the mainland

* * *

Once they stepped foot on dry land, the group practically passed out as they slumped to the ground – the battle with Seadramon and the trip itself had lasted until sunrise, which meant they had pretty much spent the whole night awake without getting even a wink of sleep.

Mimi let out a huge yawn as Sora sat down next to Izzy while Tai stretched his limbs

"That was exhausting!" Tai yawned "Who knew there was a Digimon lurking around in the lake."

Sora sleepily nodded "It's a good thing Gabumon digivolved when he did. Hopefully he'll be able to do it again next time."

"Yeah, and Agumon too."

"Actually," Izzy said abruptly, getting the two's attention "Speaking of which, I've been seeing a pattern with that – Remember when the Digimon digivoled for the first time?"

Sora and Tai nodded "Agumon and them said that the process was initiated by having us share our energy with them, but don't know how it happens, so it's assumed it "Just happens". When Agumon digivolved, I was able to determine that the Digimon have other stages that, through digivolving, they can acquire to access new powers. "

"But" He continued "I couldn't figure out why the other Digimon didn't do it too. Granted that they didn't have enough energy when they were facing Shellmon, but this time they should have been able to since they had plenty to eat and reason to considering their regular attacks weren't doing much damage. After Garurumon defeated Seadramon, I attempted to gain some insight by asking Tentamon why he didn't Digivolve like Gabumon did…"

_As Gabumon swam back to the island, Matt and TK took a head-start towards him while the others followed behind._

"_Hey Tentamon," Izzy began as he walked next to the red insectoid "I'm a bit curious – you said you need energy to Digivolve right?"_

"_Right!" He answered_

"_And you get the energy to do so from me and other activities such as eating and sleeping correct?"_

"_Correct!"_

"_So, why didn't you digivolve earlier like Gabumon did?" the redhead asked "Did you not eat enough? We're you too tired? Did you run out of energy to do so like Agumon did?"_

"_Oh it's_ _not that," Tentamon said, "I have plenty of energy, I simply couldn't do it at the time, nor the others it seems - Gabumon was the only one capable of digivolving tonight."_

"_I see."  
_

_"And it's a good thing too – Matt would have been a goner if it didn't happen!"_

Sora seemed to be taking all this in when she suddenly perked up "Yeah he's right! Before Gabumon, only Agumon could Digivolve. But why is that?"

"I'm still not sure." the red-headed genius stated as he turned towards the goggled brunette "Tai, when Agumon digivolved for the first time, what was happening? Anything you remember could be a clue."

Tai crossed his arms and thought, shuddering a bit _–_ It wasn't a fun memory, being nearly squeezed to death by some shell monster while your friends were about to be blasted to kingdom come. Tai had remembered screaming, about being in pain, not being able to breath, not being able to…

The brunette shook his head and tried focusing on everything but that. Agumon suddenly transforming while Shellmon was stepping on him, but why didn't really click until he remember what Agumon said afterwards yesterday

"_I just wanted to save you and everyone."_

"That's it!" Tai shouted, startling the two "Agumon digivolved when I was in danger and said he wanted to save me – it's beginning to make sense now!"

Izzy nodded as he calculated the new date he received "Then that's the answer – our Digimon are only able to digivolve when we're in trouble. It must be some sort of security protocol installed in them so they can protect their partners when they meet them."

"That must be it." Sora agreed, but something else was going on in her head

_But that would mean someone knew humans would find this place someday_ she thought _Was us coming here really an accident…_

Suddenly, Sora felt some weight on her and saw that Mimi had fallen asleep on her shoulder. Sora carefully pushed her off and the red-clad girl decided to make her bed elsewhere – which sadly ended up being Hibiki, who had sat down momentarily in her line of decent.

"Hey!" the brunnete girl grumbled as she tried to push the other brunette off, but the girl was surprisingly heavy, and Palmon and Kushimon suddenly decided to use her as a makeshift bed too, increasing the weight surrounding her. As they nuzzled into her, Hibiki sent an irritable glare at Sora, who clapped her hands together apologetically.

"Sorry," the ginger girl whispered, yawning a bit as she stared at the napping Mimi, who was mumbling in her sleep, noticing that she looked a lot less frailer then when she first saw her "I'm surprised though, we've only been" Yawn "here one day and she's already got some muscle on her..."

"You're telling me." Hibiki yawned, trying to keep her eyes from dropping more "Can't even move with" Yawn "her here, how can someone that" Yawn "small be so heavy…"

Agumon looked rather excited despite suddenly sinking to the ground "Yeah, maybe if she puts the effort in" Yawn "She could be a hard bodied" Yawn "machine like me…"

"Maybe," Biyomon slurred as her head swayed "She'll grow pink wings" Yawn "like mine too."

And one by one, the children let the exhaustion of the battle and long night finally catch up with them as they all fell fast asleep in the warm morning sun…

Tai yawned a bit and was about to doze off too until he suddenly heard music. He followed the sound until he spotted Matt, playing his harmonica while Gabumon, Patamon, and TK were slumbering around him. TK snuggled in closer to Matt, surprising the blonde as he murmerd

"Big brother, you're the best"

Tai smile a bit as he yawned again and snoozed against the tree he was hiding behind.

* * *

Extended Omake ending - Daydream

Hibiki gave a stiff yawn as she sat up to rub the sleep from her eyes

Or at least tried to – when she attempted to move, she realized that Mimi and Kushimon had managed to snake themselves around her while Palmon was wrapped around her partners waist.

_Darn it!_ She mentally grumbled as she carefully tried to slip her arm out of Kushimon's grasp (The bear was pretty strong!). Once she'd gotten free, she was about to work on Mimi when the girl suddenly shifted and started whimpering.

"Daddy…"

Hibiki paused for a moment before Kushimon latched onto her again in her sleep, and let out a sigh as she closed her eyes

Maybe ten more minute wouldn't be that bad.

* * *

**Omake Theater**

Omake 1 – Star gazers

"…And that's how I met the fish king of the pacific!" Tentamon said, and the children simply stared at him, unsure whether to clap or question his sanity.

TK stared up at the sky and noticed a strange cluster of stars.

"Hey Matt," he asked as he pointed upward "What're those stars called?"

Matt followed his brother's gaze, and shrugged "Don't know, I've never seen it before though."

Izzy and the others looked up too, and realize that they couldn't recognize a single constellation in the sky.

"I don't remember reading about any of those constellations." Izzy murmured "I think ones Orion, but the shape's off…"

Matt blinked a few times in surprise "You known astronomy?" he asked while the others gave him an impressed look

"A little, my pa-" He started before suddenly pausing and getting a dull look in his eyes "My guardians bought me a book about space and it had the constellations in it."

"Lucky," Matt said "I have to get mine from the library."

"Oh, you're interested in space Matt?"

"Yep, Matt can name all the planets in one go!" TK beamed, causing the blonde boy to blush as he turned his head "And he knows the names of a lot of astronauts."

"Really?" Hibiki asked

"Uhuh," Matt murmured "I saw a video about the Moon Landing in class once and thought it was really cool. After that, I started looking for books on space and stuff."

Izzy stared at Matt for a while, and suddenly smiled "If that's the case, I'll let you borrow it some time."

"Really…Thanks."

* * *

Omake2 – The Otherside

"If you're into Astronomy – is that where you got that stupid Alien theory." Hibiki asked, getting a glare in return.

"It's not stupid," Izzy muttered "It's based on fact – this place has strange creature we don't recognize and our electronics don't work here, a sky with very odd environmental patterns and strange fauna that I'm pretty sure aren't in any textbooks, not to mention the fact that that trolley turned on by itself. The aliens think they're smart by trying to confuse us with those phone booths and this trolley, but they haven't fooled me."

"Just because there's facts doesn't mean it's not stupid," she responded "And besides, there are plenty of other reasons for all the stuff we've seen. And I don't think the "Aliens" would go out of their way to turn on a trolley just to mess with us."

"And FYI," She added "The fact you believe in them obviously makes them smarter then you times pi."

Izzy gritted his teeth and stood

"Well then," he asked "What do **you** think turned it on?"

The three turned to Hibiki, awaiting some snarky comment or joke in retort. Instead…

"It was ghosts." She answered earnestly

Izzy blinked "ghosts?"

"Yep."

"You're saying ghosts turned it on."

"Uhuh."

"And might be responsible for us being stranded on this strand island of monsters and who knows what else."

"Well, technically Faeries are the only ones that shanghai people into other realm, but some ghosts have the power to create alternate spaces if they're strong enough, but we haven't gotten far yet…"

Everyone was quiet, even quieter then when Tentamon finished his (Obviously false) story about the fish king of the pacific (There were high doubts this place even _had_ a pacific.)

"That…" He started "That's completely ridiculous! How can you dismiss aliens and call them stupid but believe something as silly as ghosts and faeries!"

"First of all," Hibiki argued "I don't believe in faeries, though their existence is argued, there still isn't concrete evidence for me to agree yet. And Second – it's because aliens are stupid! Who the heck would believe in little green men piloting a dish plate outside earth planning an invasion?"

"It's not an invasion – they're just observing, humans interest them and they want to learn about them from a far. That's why they took us here!"

"If they want to learn, then they should come to earth instead of using those stupid abductions and crop circle stunts. At least ghosts come haunt you face to face."

"Of course – except ghosts don't exist!"

"Ghosts exist – they even have evidence proving they do!"

"So do Aliens!"

"Yeah, except mine's real and not locked up in an imaginary government shed!"

"Least mine's not blurry pictures and fake testimonies."

The two continued on like this for a while before they ran out of steam and Mimi and Matt split them apart.

* * *

I don't own Digimon – so let us take this time to thank and curse the many deities of the universe that I don't.

Another chapter! This one took longer became my sister's visiting and I've been busy with College app stuff (I'm going to fail as an Adult aren't I?). Really hope you like this chapter and stuff, and the changes I made. And in case you're wondering, I'm using the original name of Gomamon's attack because…Well, it sounds cooler. And though Omake 2 isn't canon, yes – Hibiki believes in ghost (Faeries aren't real to her though). And thanks so much for the faves – I really appreciate them. Tell me what you think and I will see you next time!


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